Cats should wear bells to stop them killing birds, says Natural England chair

Cats should wear bells to stop them killing birds, the chairman of Natural England has said.

Tony Juniper said the measure was one of many ways the public could help revive the declining bird population.

Mr Juniper told Radio 4’s Broadcasting House: “Yes, I think bells on cats is a good idea. There’s been work done on that to work out the effectiveness of it and it certainly wouldn’t do any harm.”

In the interview to mark International Dawn Chorus Day, he lamented the lack of spring birdsong and spoke of his concern over the falling number of birds.

He said: “We used to have a much richer dawn chorus until recently and this year we’ve seen a falling off of some birds that used to be a part of that rich soundtrack of spring.”

Mr Juniper added: “It [a dawn chorus] makes a material difference to my mood and actually this year, I’ve been rather depleted in terms of my mood by having this reduction in bird numbers.”

Birds in decline

According to the latest data, birds in the UK have steadily declined since the 1970s and numbers are now 15 per cent lower across all species. The drop has caused the dawn chorus to thin out with species such as the song thrush now no longer heard at all around Mr Juniper’s home in Cambridge.

It is estimated that cats kill 27 million birds in Britain every spring and summer.

Cats have long plagued the garden songbird but research carried out by RSPB found that bells on collars reduced the number of felines returning home with a bird in tow by 41 per cent.

Earlier this year, Amsterdam city authorities announced a plan to ask cat owners to add a bell to their pet’s collar. The plan followed an attempt by a group that campaigns to stop domestic cats roaming freely outside to force the Government to take action against owners.

However, some experts have warned that a bell may harm cats. Shauna Walsh, a veterinary nurse with PDSA, told Country Living: “While bells attached to cat collars could help to alert wildlife to a cat’s presence, it’s important to be aware that bells can be potentially hazardous to your cat. Like the potential risks associated with collars, bells can also easily get caught, causing your cat to become stuck.”

Ms Walsh also explained that a bell won’t always result in an unsuccessful hunt.

“Many cats continue to hunt successfully despite wearing a bell – as they tend to hunt by staying completely still then pouncing suddenly when they spot prey, so the bell is often not enough warning,” she said.

“Our pets rarely hunt because they’re hungry but hunting is a natural part of being a cat and it’s important for their mental health. This doesn’t have to mean hunting wildlife though.”

Hunting at dawn and dusk

Dawn and dusk are prime hunting times for cats and keeping them inside during these times is an alternative way to protect wildlife, Ms Walsh suggests.

Despite falling numbers, Mr Juniper said the risk to birds from predators, such as cats, magpies and sparrowhawks “have been pretty much the same this year”.

“I think if we focus on the range of factors, including cat predation, it wouldn’t do any harm,” he said.

One factor Mr Juniper said had recently made a difference to the chorus of birdsong was the climate crisis. “The brutal drought and heatwave that hit England in 2022 turned soils to concrete,” he wrote in the Guardian. “Trees shed their leaves in summer while wetlands and ponds evaporated to rock hard pans of dried mud.”

Climate change has disrupted seasonal patterns, which Mr Juniper said has impacted the population immeasurably.

According to the Woodland Trust, spring now starts six days earlier than it did in 1999. Insects such as caterpillars now start their life earlier with the trees, which in turn means they form a chrysalis sooner. If this happens before blue tits, pied flycatchers and other birds that feed on caterpillars realise, then the birds’ food supply decreases considerably.