I love watching birds at the feeder outside my bedroom window.  At the same time, I love my two cats, Zinnia and Zander.  Zinnia is a portly black kitty who prefers sleeping on our bed most of the day.  Zander, son of Zinnia in contrast is a sleek tuxedo cat and would prefer to be outside hunting.  As long as he is mousing, fine, but for a while, he was killing too many birds.

I tried various strategies mentioned in a previous post with some success.  Then I noticed him hiding behind my bamboo and doing jet pounces on the ground feeding birds.  My pruning of shrubs to avoid kitty hiding places was not enough.  I needed a barrier to protect ground feeders.  After considering fencing off the bird feeding area (expensive, inconvenient) I had one of those “DUH” moments- just lay down crisscrossing branches and brush on the ground below the feeder area.  That I did.

This solution was free, effective, and immediate.  Zander now has a natural-looking barrier and the birdies have a safe place to scratch for seed.  Now and again he does get a bird but not around the feeder.  In all, I would say his bird predation has dropped by 90%.

Give this one a go if you have trouble with cat predation of birds.  You’ll be pleased by its effectiveness.  Your cat, on the other hand, maybe a bit frustrated.

Images by the author