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i This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0030_01D15751.F27F1FC0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I hope I can help a bit with David=E2=80=99s bird questions and correct = a misunderstanding. Those were good questions on bird behaviour and maybe a little = information can help. You may have noticed that Rock Pigeons and = Starlings usually flock together. This is a feeding and protection = strategy to find food faster and sound the alarm if one sharp-eyed = member sees danger. I=E2=80=99m not saying they don=E2=80=99t get caught = by cats but that strategy works really well for them. Both those species = nest in places like cavities, overpasses, beams etc. where cats = generally have trouble getting them or their nestlings unless they fall = out of the nest or begin to fledge. Both species are increasing, = especially starlings because we have provided perfect habitat for nest = sites and they are completely at home in almost any environment close to = humans. Natural bird and small mammal predators like Sharp-shinned = Hawks, Peregrines, Merlins generally migrate south for the winter but = some stay here, even with the food shortage, so will find those areas = where bird congregate...backyards and Mourning Doves and Starlings are = their prey of choice. Both European Starlings and Mourning Doves are = doing well in NS, and increasing according to our Christmas Count Data = despite hawk/cat kills.=20 People I talk to generally do not realize that a surprisingly large = number of passerines use the ground to nest, among the thickets, in = grassy tufts, in root balls, burrows, and crevices that are quite = accessible to predators especially when the chicks are begging for food. = In winter, kills and practice hunting by cats are reduced because many = cats would prefer to stay inside and warm in cold weather, birds = aren=E2=80=99t nesting or plentiful as many of our birds have left to go = south. The really large losses occur when birds are on the nest and = feeding young so yes, warblers, waxwings, sparrows, robins, flycatchers = are affected. Adult Swifts and Swallows, not so much, but chicks of both = are taken. Helene van Doninck showed us slides in Wolfville last week of = photos taken by her husband of the species brought to her after a cat = attack during a single month in the summer. I think most of the audience = was surprised by the number and the variety including adult Cedar = Waxwings, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, young Varying Hare, Robins and = Starlings to name a few. =20 I am sorry to have suggested that habitat loss wasn=E2=80=99t an issue. = That was not what I meant. I was stating that we as cat owners comfort = ourselves by convincing ourselves that cats are not a big problem and it = is really habitat loss, collisions etc. that are the culprits. As we = continue to lose habitat, we reduce the spaces for birds and other = animals to live and breed which will bring our pets and animals closer = together. Habitat is critical and we need to continue to protect green = spaces, forests and water sources and did not mean to reduce that issue = to non-essential.=20 My point, as Darrell and others have said, is that if we can reduce the = number of cats that are outside, it is a win-win for them and the = wildlife. We have free-roaming pet cats and then we have stray and feral = cats with different sets of problems. If we can begin to change = people=E2=80=99s attitudes to the thinking that it=E2=80=99s not OK to = allow their pet cat out to get hurt or worse plus to prey on natural = wildlife, we may eventually have attitudes that respect the cat enough = not to abandon it. The TNR people, SPCA, veterinarians and anyone = working with this desperate situation all agree that we need fewer cats = outside. I met anyone yet who is trying to increase a feral cat colony. = I still didn=E2=80=99t get the =E2=80=9Cpat on the back=E2=80=9D for not = allowing a cat out at night. I guess we can call that practice part-time = invasiveness while I pull up Purple Loosestrife and applaud coyote = bounties. From: David & Alison Webster=20 Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 9:44 PM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Vancouver has new "bird strategy" Hi David C. & All, Jan 24, 2016 Not being a birder I am on thin ice here but is it not correct that = birds which commonly feed on the ground would be most susceptible to = predation by cats (such as Pidgins and Starlings) whereas birds which = seldom land on the ground to feed should be least affected by cats (such = as Swifts, Warblers and Swallows) ? Are the above ground feeders (Pidgins and Starlings) in drastic = decline while all the examples who feed above ground (Swifts, Warblers, = and Swallows) are doing just fine ? I would have guessed it was the = other way around which, if correct, would demonstrate that cat predation = is a non-issue. And you are going out on an extremely weak limb if you suggest that = cat predation trumps habitat. I am sure you must know better; habitat is = the foundation upon which life rests.=20 Cats which are turned loose, probably because their owners can't = afford to feed them, can't find an affordable apartment which allows = pets, have to move... is an entirely different matter. Fixing them and = turning them loose is also a non-solution.=20 People who did not grow up seeing animals killed are reluctant to = condone it. It is all part of the 'lets control the seal population by = giving them contraceptive pills' or let's give the Terns a break and = control Gull populations by hiring people to make distracting noises = whenever a Gull starts to mount a female school of "thought".=20 This isolation of many humans from reality is sad but don't blame = cats for that. And in review; if two three letter words (CAT and ATV) can generate = all this traffic can you imagine what a four letter word (CATV) might = do. It is way past my bedtime. DW, Kentville =20 =20 =20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: David Currie=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 5:27 PM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Vancouver has new "bird strategy" Hi All We sometimes get caught up with the estimated numbers quoted from EC = or others as being totally accurate for some reason, though always = expressed in an estimate or within a certain range. I don=E2=80=99t have = to tell this group that science is based on fact with thos