Cat Research

Cats, their owners and the environment

An estimated 12 million domestic cats live in the UK. Their presence as companion animals provides many of us with much needed love and company, but understanding the impact that cats have on our songbird populations is a crucial area of research

The Project

Our research project working with the University of Exeter started in March 2017, funding a PhD student and a postdoctoral researcher for three years. The project focused on understanding more about cat behaviour and cat owner attitudes to hunting; so that we could move beyond the social conflict that has plagued the issue of cat predation on wildlife.

SongBird Survival partnered with a citizen scientist and an ecologist to identify potential mitigation measures to hunting behaviour, without impeding on cat welfare. This highly collaborative project looked specifically at:

Perspectives of cat owners and how they felt about roaming and hunting
Understanding where and how far cats roam by using GPS collars to track their movements
Testing the use of collar deterrents (bells and bibs), puzzle feeders, food and play to mitigate rates of hunting and minimise the impact on populations of songbirds, small mammals, and reptiles that cats predate

We understand cat owners likely want to help their local wildlife including how to protect birds from cats,but they just don’t know where to start!

iCatCare’s Head of Cat Advocacy, Dr Sarah Ellis, said: "The finding that many UK cat owners actually care a great deal about wildlife conservation and their cats’ impact on it, suggests that some owners are receptive to employing cat friendly ways of reducing hunting. The right interventions could improve wildlife conservation efforts, maintain good cat mental-wellbeing, and at the same time, improve the cat-human relationship."

The results

5 types of cat owners were identified by our study; which one are you? Tell us on IG, Twitter or Facebook:

Does Your Cat Hunt? SongBird Survival Research

Cats who have unrestricted access to the outdoors had home ranges 75% larger, roam 46% further from their home and have a 31% higher daily distance than cats who are confined for at least some of the day. This means more time hunting and a higher likelihood of getting in an accident.

5-10 minutes of play that simulated hunting behaviours reduced prey brought home by 25%. Over 75% of the cat owners who participated in this experiment said they would continue playing to reduce their cats hunting and for some fun bonding time!

Our study used Lily’s kitchen wet and dry food to test if the content of cat food affected hunting tendencies. A protein content that is gained from meat instead of plant sources was found to reduce the number of prey brought home by 36%.

Isotope analysis of cat whiskers showed that only a very small proportion of a domestic cat’s diet comes from prey items that are hunted. What the cat dragged in isn’t driven by hunger, but by instinct.

The use of BirdsBeSafe collars reduced consumed prey (including birds), from 11.39% of the diet, to only 4.7%. This shows BirdsBeSafe collars do stop the number of birds successfully caught and eaten by cats.

Conservationists and animal welfare professionals agree that night-time confinement for your cat is a good idea! It not only protects them from road traffic accidents, disease and fights but protects songbirds too!

Share our infographics on your social media, #NutureYourCatsNature

The Solutions

Remember that the best way to protect our precious ecosystem if you have a cat at home, is to P E C K

PLAY with your pet cats for 5-10 minutes each day to stimulate them and reduce the number of prey brought home by 25%. Top tip: try placing your cat wand next to the kettle and give it a whirl whilst it’s boiling!

EAT well by providing your cat with premium meat-rich protein foods to reduce prey brought home by 36%

COLLAR your cat with a brightly coloured collar, such as a BirdBeSafe. These collars reduce birds captured by over 40%!

KEEP IN your cat during the night if you can from #DuskTillDawn to give our birds a chance through the breeding season. Other options include catios and fencing by ProtectaPet that keep cats in gardens and reduce roaming.

These tiny acts can help to save our feathered friends and don’t impact the welfare of your cats. If we can all do our bit and work together to tackle the range of issues facing our songbirds today, we can reverse the decline. For more tips and advice on how best to encourage birds to your garden, click here.

Meet our scientists

Sarah Crowley - Postdoctoral Researcher

Sarah gained her PhD from the University of Exeter in 2017, and is now working as a Postdoctoral researcher within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. She specialises in understanding the social dimensions of managing introduced and invasive species. Her PhD research focused on the management of monk parakeets in southeast England, Eurasian beavers in Devon and grey squirrels nationwide.

Sarah has a background in animal behaviour and anthrozoology – the interdisciplinary study of human-animal interactions. Her research interests include environmental conflict, human-animal interactions and introduced and invasive species management and policy. She is keen to continue conducting and promoting applied, interdisciplinary research into complex socioecological problems.

Martina Cecchetti – PhD Student for this study

Martina was a PhD student within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences working under the supervision of Professor Robbie McDonald. On completion of her Thesis for this project, she successfully completed her Doctorate making Martina the 3rd Doctor SBS has funded with your help – further advancing the education and science of birds and the factors which affect them.

She holds a BSc Biological Sciences from the University of Perugia and an MSc Evolution of Animal and Human Behaviour from the University of Turin.
Previously she has worked as a fieldworker with Ornis Italica, a not-for-profit association of independent researchers based in Rome. Here she studied the effect of free-roaming cats on shearwaters on Linosa Island, in collaboration with University of Palermo. She also worked as a radar specialist for raptor migration on the Strait of Messina. Martina’s research interests include wildlife conservation, animal welfare and the impacts of invasive species on island endemics.

She has now returned to live in Italy with her beloved cat, Menni.

Professor Robbie McDonald – Supervisor

Professor McDonald is Chair in Natural Environment at the University of Exeter. He leads the University's partnership with the National Wildlife Management Centre as part of a Wildlife Research Co-Operative. He is also a member of the Environment and Sustainability Institute. His research interests lie in mammal ecology and small carnivores in particular, having previously studied the biology of the weasel family. His current projects are looking at the ecology and management of invasive, non-native species, ecological and social aspects of wildlife management and understanding human conflicts over wildlife. His research has also focused on the science, policy and practical implications of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in badgers, and the impacts and management of invasive species. He hopes to develop a programme of applied, interdisciplinary work that will help Cornwall, the South West, and the UK develop in a sustainable way.