(gentle music) - [Narrator] It is an age-old rivalry, cats and birds.

One can only speculate when it started.

- Hi, my name is Aidan, and I'm a naturalist here at Eagle Creek Ornithology Center.

Birds are absolutely amazing animals.

They're extremely diverse.

(gentle music) - Hi, I am Whitney Yoerger.

I am out here at Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary in Connorsville.

This is the 735-acre property that we own and operate.

- My name is Libby Keyes.

As Indiana Audubon, we do love our birds.

They're really great indicator species.

They indicate things about the how-who of the environment.

- [Narrator] People seem pretty sure that birds were here first, because they are basically dinosaurs from the Jurassic Period, roughly 150 million years ago.

(gentle music) Giving birds plenty of time to figure out what to do with their useless arms, most birds.

Cats are thought to only be 10 million years old, but they are very sneaky and could be older.

(cat yodeling) - Arguably very similar timelines that birds kind of adapted, but I would say, just barely, birds came first.

- [Narrator] Over the millennia, both animal species developed relationships with humans.

Birds were said to be domesticated around 5000 BC and used in various ways in society.

Cats were domesticated later, around 3000 BC.

They helped stop the spread of disease and protected crops.

Egyptians quickly considered them to be a best friend to humans.

(dog moans) Things were pretty good for both species.

However, these days, we are experiencing an eco imbalance.

Cat populations are too high while bird populations are dropping.

- Birds are absolutely declining overall worldwide, especially in North America, and especially in Indiana.

We're seeing species that used to come and return every single year, that aren't returning now.

- [Narrator] Birds like the Ring-Billed Gull and the American Goldfinch, down over 40% in the state.

So what's happening?

- The biggest reason behind bird declines is human-caused destruction of habitat.

And that could be deforestation, that could be pollution, that could be simply agriculture.

- [Narrator] With large-scale issues, such as disappearing trees and climate change, the birds that are around have it rough in a lot of places, (birds chirping) which drew more attention to unintended bird death.

- And a few of those factors range anywhere from window collisions in cities during migration to feral cats.

- The number one direct cause is non-native domestic cats.

- [Aidan] 1.3 to 4 billion birds are killed annually by feral cats.

- [Homeowner] Oh my god!

- What?

- That number definitely, especially to the passionate cat owners, is very startling.

And, to most people, that number seems absolutely unbelievable.

Like, how can feral cats kill that many birds annually?

Cats are adapted to hunting birds.

That is their main prey.

- [Narrator] We've known about cat overpopulation since the first time we were home sick from school.

- [Bob] Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population.

Have your pet spayed or neutered, bye, everybody.

- [Narrator] We must be making a dent by now.

- Hi, I'm Jen, I work at FACE Low Cost Animal Clinic.

I remember growing up with Bob Barker and being very curious about spay/neuter.

Spay/neuter is what's going to help reduce the cat population, because, at the end of the day, we wanna make sure that there are fewer cats who have to live outdoors.

- Hi, I am Katie DeBrota, and I am the medical director here at FACE Low Cost Animal Clinic.

I'm also one of the surgeons here, and you'll see that we are finishing up our surgery day.

They're gonna bring another one in though.

We had about 60 animals on the schedule, which is pretty typical for us.

- Even while mom is nursing, she can get pregnant again, and I don't think we think about that.

- Spayed and neutering process and attempts are working, but they're also not working at a rate that is obviously conducive to the bird populations.

(bird chirping) - Even though we're a large nature preserve and a sanctuary, we are often dealing with the cat issue.

(water trickling) (monitor beeping) - There are a lot of problems with animal overpopulation.

And it has been studied time and time again that the only way to reduce overpopulation is through really high-intensity spay/neuter, where at least 75% of the colony is sterilized.

(people chattering) - [Narrator] Even with all of this work being done, sterilizing enough cats is a daunting task.

- Unfortunately, we don't have the resources in our community to do it, a cat census, if you will, like DNR would do maybe with a deer population.

- [Narrator] From a shelter's perspective, cat intake is down 40% since 2019.

However, the need for increased cat sterilization remains.

- We typically allocate about 65% of our surgeries to cats.

- [Narrator] One thing is for sure, both cat and bird fans want to help each other.

- We love animals.

Whether it's the birds in my backyard that I feed, and the squirrels too, 'cause they usually get into the bird feeder, (squirrel whooshing) or if it's the cats, I think we all share that same love and compassion for these creatures that we share our world with.

- It might seem like doom and gloom, but there are things that we can do as bird lovers, appreciators, birders, cat lovers.

- [Narrator] Some ways to help include putting stickers on windows to reduce bird strikes.

You could implement something called a catio, allowing your cats to get some controlled time outside.

And for those adventurous cats, you can try out the cat-on-a-leash trend.

- Yeah.

(gentle playful music) - Honestly, if you love birds and you love cats, is as much as you want that cat to have the freedom of the outdoor world, keep it inside.

You're able to love your cat, you're able to get as much attention to that cat as you possibly can, while also loving the birds.

- [Narrator] The best way for the average cat owner to help is to just keep an eye on your kitty.

- Any kind of general appreciation or awareness of birds is really good.

Through that caring, we can do more for birds.

- [Narrator] Currently, the most impact is being made by trap, neuter, release, or TNR.

- We would be open to working with groups who do have active programs for TNR, and help inform their data and their efforts, and try to have an educational approach.

- We are always open to partnering with other organizations.

And I think, from what I've seen with some of the different organizations, is an alignment around spay/neuter.

- That would be great if we were able to partner with kind of spay and neuter programs.

I think it could really make a huge difference.

(gentle playful music) - [Narrator] With more research and the possibility of partnerships, someday cat and bird populations may just live in harmony.

- I would say that there's not gonna be a huge hope for cats and birds ever getting along, but I think if you love animals, there will absolutely be a way to save the bird populations in the end.

(gentle playful music) (gentle upbeat music) - [Narrator] For more "Across Indiana" stories, go to wfyi.org/AcrossIndiana.

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