Animals 'devastate' UK songbirds (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Grey squirrels and wild cats are "devastating" Britain's songbird population, a study suggests.

Predatory animals are having as much an impact as modern farming practices, the report, commissioned by charity Songbird Survival, indicates.

When combined with the impact of predatory birds like sparrowhawks, this means up to 85% of adult songbirds are lost - with 100% of nests targeted.

Conservationists fear the number of predators is spiralling out of control.

This could have a significant long-term impact on songbird numbers throughout the UK, they say.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5026222.stm

I'm off to cross-post to one of the cat threads in the Lounge ... if no has heard from me after four hours, contact the Sherriff's Dept.

[Dead_Parrot]

1. lol

Take a big dog :evilgrin:

[NYC]

2. Squirrels eat birds?

...It suggests the major predators, grey squirrels and wild cats, are responsible for a sharp decline in farm birds...

I thought they were herbivores.

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Omnivores...

They'll certainly go for eggs. "Rats with good PR" is my favorite description :).

[NYC]

7. I've seen rats and squirrels

very close to each other in Union Square, and I would have to agree with you -- good PR and a bushy tail.

They really look very similar.

I know that rats and mice are omnivores, but I thought rabbits were herbivores, so didn't think it was odd that I thought squirrels were herbivores.

[depakid]

5. Squirrels enjoy a wide range of delicacies

Coffee


Gummi candi


Rabbit heads


worms....

Of course, feral cats are probably the biggest problem- and given Britain's rather strict attitudes about what constitutes animal cruelty, this is not going to be an easy balance for them to strike....

[NYC]

6. Thanks for the squirrel menu.

The first one is hilarious. I had no idea about the rabbit head. I really thought they were herbivores.

Here's another:

[Mojorabbit]

8. Pregnant and nursing mom squirrels

will sometimes take nestlings for the extra protein but I have never seen it happen in my yard. I do wildlife rehab and have raised and released hundreds of grey squirrels. The grey squirrel has caused a big problem in england as they have multiplied and are edging out the red squirrel there. I however have seen studies showing the enormous amt of songbirds killed my kitties. I get cat injured animals in all the time to be fixed up if possible and then released. Cats can do major damage.

[NYC]

9. Thank you.

I certainly learned something new about squirrels.

[XemaSab]

4. According to Avibase

Britain has one endemic, the Scottish Crossbill.

They're usually not ground foragers, so they're not in as much danger from cats as many other birds would be, but this is still very disheartening news. :(

[dbackjon]

10. The only good outdoors cat

Is a dead one.

[ramapo]

11. They often wind up that way

People are so irresponsible when they let their cat out.

We have many, many squirrels. Here I always thought it were the cats killing them. No squirrel ever left a bird at the doorstep either.

[Dead_Parrot]

12. Maybe you could train the squirrels...

...to eat the cats. :evilgrin:

[phantom power]

13. LOL...

Who's at the top of the food chain now, bitch?

[wordpix2]

14. snakes eat birds, too. Heard birds screaming one day and went out to find

a snake had wound up a small evergreen tree where the nest was. I'm not sure if I prevented the murder but snake slithered away when I parted the tree branches and I didn't get a good look at it.