Florida Project
Birdsbesafe: Is a novel cat collar more effective at stopping domestic cats from killing birds at higher latitudes?
February 2019 - February 2022
Personnel
- Abby Powell, Co-Principal Investigator
- Susan Willson, Co-Principal Investigator
Participating Agencies
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Up to 4 billion birds are killed annually in the US alone by domestic cats. We examine a novel conservation tool that has the potential to be effective at keeping domestic cats from killing songbirds: the Birdsbesafe® cat collar cover. We are testing whether the BCC is differentially effective at various latitudes. Because birds at higher latitude birds have a shorter breeding season and a concurrent higher spike in testosterone then birds at lower latitudes, we predict that the more "distracted" breeding birds in the northern latitudes will show a higher magnitude difference in predation by cats with and without the BCC.
| Research Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Jensen, M.B., S. K. Willson and A.N. Powell. 2022. How effective is the Birdsbesafet cat collar at reducing bird mortality by domestic cats? Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 13(1)182–191; e1944-687X. https://doi.org/10.3996/JFWM- 21-055 | June 2022 |