Clyde and the Blackbird

Marina wrote:
Karen wrote:

Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us either.
LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink just brought tons
of newspapers around and anything that fell off a clothes line. But not many
birds. I think they are harder than we think to catch.

I think so too. Nikki would bring me 5-6 voles per *day* in her prime,
but only one or two birds during the whole summer. I think most cats are
only able to catch birds that are sick or weak. Young birds are probably
especially vulnerable.

--
Marina, Frank, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Nikki.

That has always been my opinion. I don't think cats (fed, owned cats
anyway) impact the bird population as much as they get blamed for. I
think it's mostly the sick/weak. Just based on the cats I've had.

Sherry

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Karen wrote:

Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us either.
LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink just brought
tons
of newspapers around and anything that fell off a clothes line. But not
many
birds. I think they are harder than we think to catch.

I think so too. Nikki would bring me 5-6 voles per *day* in her prime, but
only one or two birds during the whole summer. I think most cats are only
able to catch birds that are sick or weak. Young birds are probably
especially vulnerable.


Most of the birds caught here are fledglings. But then most of the birds
around here are very obnoxious blue jays.

Jo

I'm afraid some cats are born hunters, at least in my experience. And it
doesn't matter how well they are fed.
Deo, next door, for instance, constantly upset me by his bird catching
abilities. He's pretty old now and doesn't bother. When he was young he
demolished whole generations of fledgling blackbirds and thrushes, plus a
sprinkling of sparrows and finches.

Bev

Jo Firey" wrote in message
...

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Karen wrote:

Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us either.
LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink just brought
tons
of newspapers around and anything that fell off a clothes line. But not
many
birds. I think they are harder than we think to catch.

I think so too. Nikki would bring me 5-6 voles per *day* in her prime,
but only one or two birds during the whole summer. I think most cats are
only able to catch birds that are sick or weak. Young birds are probably
especially vulnerable.


Most of the birds caught here are fledglings. But then most of the birds
around here are very obnoxious blue jays.

Jo

Bev wrote:
It's fledgling time again and this morning the parent birds were
shouting warning cries when I let the cats out. The birds build in
the most absurd places. Their latest nest was in the orange tree at
eye level and for some reason the cats never discovered them.

I was eating breakfast when I heard the screaming - I knew one of the
cats had a fledgling. It was sitting at the bottom of the back
steps and I have never heard such a terrible noise from a small bird.
Its alarmed parents were doing wheelies overhead. Clyde sat beside
the chick looking wonderingly at it - seeemingly aghast at the noise.
He must have found it and brought it to the steps. He was obviously
quite troubled at the thought of touching anything so noisy.

Then I made a mistake. Instead of grabbing Clyde, I tried to grab
the bird. It wasn't much of a flier but evaded my clumsy paws
easily. It staggered into the air and flew into a clump of bushes
pursued by a wildly excited Clyde and two parent birds dive-bombing
us all.

Clyde misjudged his prey and sprang on the wrong bush - I saw the
fledgling and grabbed it. The little fellow was completely unharmed
and still screaming its head off - it had an open yellow beak wide
enough to swallow the ocean.

I grabbed Clyde in the other hand and threw him inside.
The bird I tossed over the high fence skirting the neighbours'
property. Later I saw the parent birds on the job delivering beakfuls
of worms. Clyde's been locked inside ever since. Bonnie,
thankfully, was out of earshot, otherwise she would have joined in
the skirmish.

I reckon fledglings are most susceptible the first day or so out of
the nest so I am going to have to keep a close eye on the fur brigade.

Bev

I know birds. Fledglings are the most trusting and also inclined to hop up
on your hand if you don't grab at them and scare them. They don't know any
better. But they instinctually know cats are predators and yes, this little
one was screaming for help.

The parents probably took care of it, got it back to the nest. But if it's
really a fledgling, it's learning to fly and will be around again. So best
to keep Clyde close by until the little one can go out and about and have
some natural defenses.

Jill

Bev wrote:
I'm afraid some cats are born hunters, at least in my experience. And it
doesn't matter how well they are fed.
Deo, next door, for instance, constantly upset me by his bird catching
abilities. He's pretty old now and doesn't bother. When he was young he
demolished whole generations of fledgling blackbirds and thrushes, plus a
sprinkling of sparrows and finches.

I've heard of some cats specialising in catching birds. Luckily, I've
never been owned by one.

--
Marina, Frank, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

wrote:
Marina wrote:
Karen wrote:

Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us
either. LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink
just brought tons of newspapers around and anything that fell off a
clothes line. But not many birds. I think they are harder than we
think to catch.

I think so too. Nikki would bring me 5-6 voles per *day* in her
prime,
but only one or two birds during the whole summer. I think most cats
are
only able to catch birds that are sick or weak. Young birds are
probably especially vulnerable.

--
Marina, Frank, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Nikki.

That has always been my opinion. I don't think cats (fed, owned cats
anyway) impact the bird population as much as they get blamed for. I
think it's mostly the sick/weak. Just based on the cats I've had.

Sherry

Sadly, the biggest impact the bird population, is human activity. :-(
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
A House is not a home, without a cat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

"Adrian" wrote in message
om...
Jeanette wrote:
wafflycat wrote in message
...

"Bev" wrote in message
...
I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict
with my bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the
sparrows but never
nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky
that B &
C and FSP rarely catch birds.

Bev


I have feeding stations in the willow tree at one end of the garden.
Alongside it is a large tree stump from a long dead apple tree. I put
various nuts, seeds, fruits & fat cakes on the stump and have the
feeding stations in the tree topped up. Have to say the felines
catch very few birds; their preferred prey is rodent ;-) Plus, in
the colder weather, the birds often *need* the stores of food put
out in gardens.

Cheers, helen s


I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them
raise more chicks than my cats ever catch.

Jeanette

Also, I find by feeding the birds there are more pairs of eyes to spot
predators and raise the alarm. Baggy has lived here nearly two years now
and
has caught about a dozen birds in that time, nearly all of them he caught
somewhere else and brought them home.
--


My two catch birds too often for my liking, often most days, which was why I
decided to stop feeding.
However, today I had a good idea. I moved my birdtable into the orchard,
loaded it up with budgie/canary seed, sunflower hearts, oatmeal and sultanas
and hung a peanut feeder from a tree there too. This is where Shylock and
Enid are (the geese) during the daytime and the cats are afraid of them.
This might work!
I also put a water dish on the birdtable, as everything is frozen up today.
I shan't be able to watch them sigh as it's too far away from the house
but at least they are getting food in this harsh weather.
Collared doves were the first takers.

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:
"Adrian" wrote in message
om...
Jeanette wrote:
wafflycat wrote in message
...

"Bev" wrote in message
...
I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict
with my bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the
sparrows but never
nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky
that B &
C and FSP rarely catch birds.

Bev


I have feeding stations in the willow tree at one end of the
garden. Alongside it is a large tree stump from a long dead apple
tree. I put various nuts, seeds, fruits & fat cakes on the stump
and have the feeding stations in the tree topped up. Have to say
the felines
catch very few birds; their preferred prey is rodent ;-) Plus, in
the colder weather, the birds often *need* the stores of food put
out in gardens.

Cheers, helen s


I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them
raise more chicks than my cats ever catch.

Jeanette

Also, I find by feeding the birds there are more pairs of eyes to
spot predators and raise the alarm. Baggy has lived here nearly two
years now and
has caught about a dozen birds in that time, nearly all of them he
caught somewhere else and brought them home.
--


My two catch birds too often for my liking, often most days, which
was why I decided to stop feeding.
However, today I had a good idea. I moved my birdtable into the
orchard, loaded it up with budgie/canary seed, sunflower hearts,
oatmeal and sultanas and hung a peanut feeder from a tree there too.
This is where Shylock and Enid are (the geese) during the daytime and
the cats are afraid of them. This might work!
I also put a water dish on the birdtable, as everything is frozen up
today. I shan't be able to watch them sigh as it's too far away
from the house but at least they are getting food in this harsh
weather.
Collared doves were the first takers.

Tweed

Maybe you could put a webcam in the orchard, then you could watch the birds
in comfort.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
A House is not a home, without a cat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

"Jeanette" wrote in message
k

I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them raise
more chicks than my cats ever catch.

Jeanette///

As Robbie is an inside cat, my mum and dad put out lots of bird feeders
and a nesting box around the deck. My dads biggest challlenge is not the
problems of cats, but thinking up new ways to thwart the squirrels who
keep pinching all the bird food from the feeders, and thinking of new
ways to stop racoons getting their paws on the eggs in the nest box.

It's great for Robbie. He spends hours watching "live TV".

Helen m




--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Helen Miles wrote:
"Jeanette" wrote in message
k

I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them
raise more chicks than my cats ever catch.

Jeanette///

As Robbie is an inside cat, my mum and dad put out lots of bird
feeders and a nesting box around the deck. My dads biggest challlenge
is not the problems of cats, but thinking up new ways to thwart the
squirrels who keep pinching all the bird food from the feeders, and
thinking of new ways to stop racoons getting their paws on the eggs
in the nest box.

It's great for Robbie. He spends hours watching "live TV".

Helen m

There's a squirrel that visits my garden, I'm sure he's laughing at me when
he's eating the birds peanuts.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
A House is not a home, without a cat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk