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Outdoor cats kill an estimated 60 million birds per year in Canada, with a range of 19-197 million
Source: Avian Conservation and Ecology (2025)
Source
An updated estimate of the number of birds killed by outdoor cats in CanadaAvian Conservation and Ecology (2025)
Methodology
Meta-analysis of 58 cat predation studies
Avian Conservation and Ecology. (2025). An updated estimate of the number of birds killed by outdoor cats in Canada. As cited in Cat Cognition. https://catcognition.com/statistics/wildlife-impact/#ca-cats-kill-birds-annually-2025
3.5 million
An estimated 3.5 million cats spend time outdoors in Canada, representing 30-60% of the 9.3 million pet cats
Avian Conservation and Ecology (2025)
1.3-4.0 billion
Free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 1.3-4.0 billion birds annually in the United States
Nature Communications (2013)
2.4 billion
Cat predation is the single largest human-related cause of bird mortality in the US, killing an estimated 2.4 billion birds per year
Nature Communications (2024)
275 million
UK cats kill an estimated 275 million prey animals annually, including 55 million birds
Mammal Society / Wiley (2003)
