My cat keeps bringing in birds...

[Hippykitty]

Found a dead bird in the garden a few afternoons ago. It was still warm, but deffo had its neck broken by one of the monsters. I had to bring it in, wrap it up, and put it in the bin. I didn't want the guy next door (dedicated bird watcher) to see my cats tossing around a dead bird. 

The enclosure in the youtube vid is far too small imho, especially for a cat used to going outside.

[Purdy Bear]

I think the answer would be some sort of outdoor enclosure connected so they go out the cat flap and into it.   They have them a lot in America due to their high predatory animals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBicWuXF9wY

They don't  have to be big, some chicken wire, 4x4 wood should do the trick, just so they can sit outside for a sniff and not kill all the fledglings.  You could just use it when the birds are breeding and let them loose afterwards if they so wished.

[Stuart]

sigh, Noticed Robbie pawing at something in the garden, ran over and he had a fledgling sparrow the poor wee thing
was soaking as it has been raining heavily and there was blood on it's neck, a really hard thing to do, but I walked away.
I think it has been eaten now   

[Hippykitty]

The cats I have now don't seem to bother hunting, but I've had birders in the past. A cat I had called Max was a bird hunter, but I didn't mind too much because he would eat the whole bird, feathers, beak, everything and act like he'd had a conditioning pill afterwards. I ignored the whole thing and left him to it.

Bella, another birder, used to bring them in, half eat them and go out to get more. Some mornings I walked into the lounge to find half a dozen half-eaten, some only half dead birds, with feathers scattered everywhere. She thought it was great fun. I found this more disturbing, but there was nothing to do but clean up the mess.

Few cats are good birders, but those who do have the knack display it with gusto. They expect us to be proud of them, not to tell them off. In the general scheme of things, they do far less harm to the bird population that do pesticides which poison the grubs birds rely on.

Not much you can do about it other than upset your cat who is a natural predator developed to hunt mice, fish, and birds.

[Mymblesdaughter]

I was in Cornwall last week visiting my family and while I was there my sister's cat, which she's only had a few weeks caught 5 gold finches. She managed to save one and took it to the bird hospital.

It's one of the pluses of having indoor cats that I don't have to worry about this. Keeping cats indoor at dusk and overnight is supposed to help but I've found some cats are just naturally more into hunting that others.

[Stuart]

Here's what one of my Mates Jo has done. a facebook post she made yesterday


This is my "keep the murdering kitties away from the bluetits nest in the wall of the steading" contraption.

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

We've stopped feeding the birds since we got Alfie. It was OK with our old cats but Alfs is young, fit and predatory. It is horrible at this time of year, even the parent birds can be vulnerable if they are concentrating on feeding the babes. We had 3 sparrows on consecutive days the other week and a blue tit last week    He won't tolerate a bell though and, even if he did, the magnet for the catflap disables the bell!

[Stuart]

yeah, I feel your pain, but I'm afraid it's just one of those things
not much you can do really, I don't like collars, but robbie is currently sporting one with two bell's
it still doesn't help the fledglings who don't know the dangers and don't have the flying quickness
to get away, especially if they land in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saved one from Robbie
trying to help, but sometimes the young ones don't recover and they die anyway, as this one did 
I did save a pigeon from next doors Elmo tho, as he had somehow cornered it in one of my shed's
very lucky timing as I had just nipped round to get something when I heard a noise? this was someone's
racing pigeon as it had a tag, made it very easy to catch, I put it out of harms way on y garage roof
1/4 an hour later it flew away,
speaking to my neighbour yesterday, he told me that Elmo had taken the remains of a bird into the house,
but they could not determine what type of bird it was, It turned out to be a baby owl, heaven knows where
he got that from?

I love and hate this time of year 

forgot to add, I feed the wild birds too, and I've seen a vast drop in Birds caught ( that I know of ) ever since
I put up plastic netting along the bottom of the leylandii tree's, this stop's them pouncing straight out onto
unsuspecting birds, has to be the plastic netting tho as I also feed the hedgie's and they might get trapped in
normal nets, it's only about 18 inches high, but it fairly stops them

[Purdy Bear]

Theres a few things you could try:

1.  A bell on his collar.   One of mine allowed it, the other was like a cat possessed and wouldn't come down from the top of the cupboard until it was removed.

2.  Keep the cat in at the time it is catching the birds/prey - ie mice at night, so keep the cat in over that time.

3.  Every time he goes out clap your hands outside to notify any wildlife the feline is on the prowl.  I do this with my Cairn terrier.

4.  If you have feeding tables etc, make sure they are away from any bushes etc he could hide in or under.

Lastly, cats are prey driven so they will kill anything they can get their paws on.  Some cats can't be bothered with it, while others take pride in it.  My last cat specialised in mice but did bring in 1 bird once which I told her off for and she never did it again, although I don't know if that was the last she killed.

[Stezzle]

My cat Fudge was a lost cat which we took inm he was 6months at the time. Anyways he is now 1year older and he has brought in 3 birds in 2 weeks. One of which was a new born. Ive searchsd the area to see if we could find a nest and had no luck. Fudge has worn a collar since we got him but somehow still gets birds. He only brings in birds. I was looking for some advice and ideas of ways to stop him doing it or is it just a phase with him being young and it summer. Fudge has been done. I understand its his natural way but its getting too much.