How many birds are killed by cats in Australia?

Woinarski, John Casimir Zichy; Murphy, Brett P.; Legge, Sarah; Garnett, Stephen T.; Lawes, Michael J.; Comer, Sarah; Dickman, Chris R.; Doherty, Tim S.; Edwards, Glenn; Nankivell, A.; Paton, David C.; Palmer, Russell; Woolley, Leigh‐Ann

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.006

Cited by 138 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…This is because we cannot completely discount factors that may be unrelated to the creation of the safe haven. However, the impacts that introduced predators can have on birds is well‐established (Woinarski et al , ) and the spatial distance between sites in the different treatments is unlikely to have caused any major long‐term environmental differences between the two areas. Additionally, the northwestern sites (which remained outside of the safe haven) tended to be more species rich prior to the fence construction and less so after, suggesting that any more general differences between sites within and without the safe haven were more than counterbalanced by the removal of cat and fox predation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, a number of small mammals were in the process of being reintroduced to the safe haven over the study period, also affecting prey availability. Either way, there is now little doubt about the involvement of cats in the extinction and decline of many bird species (Woinarski et al , ). Within that context, and given the results provided here, it is likely that cats have negatively impacted occupancy by many bird species at Mt Gibson.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of a fox‐ and cat‐free safe haven on the bird fauna of remnant vegetation in southwestern Australia

Smith

Ruykys

Palmer

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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Introduced predators are a serious threat to Australian vertebrates. However, the consequences of predation for an area's avifauna have rarely been quantified. We took advantage of the establishment of a 7,832 ha fox‐ and cat‐free safe haven at Mt Gibson, in Western Australia, to assess the consequences of excluding introduced mammal predators on the bird fauna. Bird surveys were conducted over 6 years, before and after the establishment of the introduced predator‐free safe haven. After 3 years, half the sites were enclosed by the fence that excluded introduced predators, while the remainder of sites remained outside the fence and were exposed to fox and cat activity. The sites were stratified by four major vegetation types. A total of 91 bird species were variously detectable with the survey approach, but were typically more detectable during morning surveys. Site occupancy varied considerably among species, but overall, occupancy by all species was most likely to be either not impacted or positively impacted by the safe haven. The most notable change was that avifaunal richness appeared to increase in woodland and shrubland habitats within, as compared to outside, the safe haven. We conclude that: (1) the safe haven had an overall positive impact on bird occupancy; and (2) there were no consistent trends with respect to the kinds of species whose occupancy was positively impacted, beyond them all being small‐ to medium‐sized birds and mostly insectivorous. However, these conclusions must be tempered by the poor detection probability of many species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of a fox‐ and cat‐free safe haven on the bird fauna of remnant vegetation in southwestern Australia

Smith

Ruykys

Palmer

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…(). We acknowledge that this focus does not consider other Australian taxa (particularly birds and reptiles) that are susceptible to introduced predators (Woinarski et al., , ), and may benefit from fences. We define “adequate” protection by considering a species to be secure when it is distributed across six or more havens.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic planning can rapidly close the protection gap in Australian mammal havens

Ringma

Legge

Radford

et al. 2019

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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In the last 30 years, islands and fenced exclosures free of introduced predators (collectively, havens) have become an increasingly used option for protecting Australian mammals imperiled by predation by introduced cats (Felis catus) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes). However, Australia's network of havens is not expanding in a manner that maximizes representation of all predator‐susceptible taxa, because of continued emphasis on already‐represented taxa. Future additions to the haven network will improve representation of mammals most efficiently if they fill gaps in under‐represented predator‐susceptible taxa, particularly rodents. A systematic approach to expansion could protect at least one population of every Australian predator‐susceptible threatened mammal taxon by the addition of 12 new havens to the current network. Were the current haven network to be doubled in number in a systematic manner, it could protect three populations of every Australian predator‐susceptible threatened mammal taxon.

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“…Introduced cats ( Felis catus ) and foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) are leading causes of extinction and decline in Australian wildlife (Kearney et al, ). Their greatest impact has been felt by mammals (Radford, Woinarski, Legge, Baseler, & Bentley, ), however, they have also had a massive impact on birds (Woinarski et al, ). Seventy‐one out of Australia's 117 listed bird species (61%) are recognized to be predated by either cats (Woinarski et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seventy‐one out of Australia's 117 listed bird species (61%) are recognized to be predated by either cats (Woinarski et al, ). Cats especially pose a significant threat to Australia's birds, with evidence suggesting that they kill some 400 million birds every year (Woinarski, Murphy, et al, ), many of which are threatened taxa (Woinarski, Woolley, et al, ). For many Australian bird species, ongoing predator control is essential to prevent further declines and avoid extinction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian birds could benefit from predator exclusion fencing

Ringma

Barnes

Bode

2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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The use of predator exclusion fencing is widely recognized as one of the most effective mechanisms for protecting threatened fauna from introduced or overabundant predators. It is now used throughout the world to protect avian fauna. In Australia, where predator exclusion fencing is used extensively to protect threatened mammals, such fences for threatened avifauna are surprisingly sparse. In this perspective we demonstrate that (a) the use of predator exclusion fences for avifauna is popular in other countries with similar conservation problems, (b) a large number of Australian avian species could benefit from dedicated predator exclusion fences, and (c) despite legitimate concerns, if well designed, predator exclusion fences can pose little risk to threatened birds or are outweighed by the potential benefits. We believe wider use of predator exclusion fencing to protect Australian threatened birds could be highly beneficial and should be more regularly considered as a management action by conservation practitioners.

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How many birds are killed by cats in Australia?

Cited by 138 publications

References 67 publications

The impact of a fox‐ and cat‐free safe haven on the bird fauna of remnant vegetation in southwestern Australia

The impact of a fox‐ and cat‐free safe haven on the bird fauna of remnant vegetation in southwestern Australia

Systematic planning can rapidly close the protection gap in Australian mammal havens

Australian birds could benefit from predator exclusion fencing

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