You can’t guarantee that only “pest” birds (which still may be native, protected species) will visit your birdbath, or that they won’t carry some illness or parasite to pass on to your cat.
This is impossible to guarantee or control for. Birds migrate, you never know who might make a pitstop at your feeder. I’ve spotted birds that were so far off their normal range it created a buzz in the local birding community. There’s a non-zero chance something endangered or at least very rare could stop by your feeder.
If you’re worried about making sure your cat gets enough stimulation there are a lot of articles and tips on things you can do that require little effort on your part (like, even a cardboard box full of crumpled paper can do the job).
I agree here. What if the bird population wasn’t endangered and considered a pest?
To be clear this is hypothetical. I haven’t done anything.
You can’t guarantee that only “pest” birds (which still may be native, protected species) will visit your birdbath, or that they won’t carry some illness or parasite to pass on to your cat.
I’ll counter with. I have a vet. I am interested in birdwatching and the cats are only outside supervised.
Good points.
Ask your vet if they think it’s a good idea to let your cat eat random wild birds during an outbreak of H5N1 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like bird watching too, and it’s easier to do without a predator scaring them off.
I suppose you’re right.
I doubt I want to deal with a dead bird anyway.
You win the wisdom award. At least until I get bored and look up bird population parasite/diseases more in depth. Which I am unlikely to do.
This is impossible to guarantee or control for. Birds migrate, you never know who might make a pitstop at your feeder. I’ve spotted birds that were so far off their normal range it created a buzz in the local birding community. There’s a non-zero chance something endangered or at least very rare could stop by your feeder.
If you’re worried about making sure your cat gets enough stimulation there are a lot of articles and tips on things you can do that require little effort on your part (like, even a cardboard box full of crumpled paper can do the job).