How many birds are killed by cats in Australia?

Woinarski and colleagues estimated the toll that cats take on Australian birds, combining data on cat density, distribution and diet across the continent. They calculated that feral cats in natural environments kill roughly a few hundred million birds per year, with additional deaths caused by feral cats in modified landscapes and by pet cats, yielding a total on the order of hundreds of millions of birds annually. The analysis identified which bird species and groups are most affected and highlighted the disproportionate impact on Australia's distinctive and often vulnerable avifauna. Part of a broader research program quantifying cat predation on Australian wildlife, the study provided authoritative numbers to inform national threat-abatement policy and underscored cats as a primary driver of biodiversity loss in Australia.