It may be hard to imagine cats, one of the most beloved pets in the world, as brutal bird-killing machines. Yes, even your sweet little fluffy Whiskers can spell doom for your backyard birds. If you have neighborhood cats or you let your cat outside near your bird feeders, then you should know how to keep cats away from bird feeders.
According to the American Bird Conservancy, “Predation by domestic cats is the number-one direct, human-caused threat to birds in the United States and Canada”. They also estimate in the United States alone, cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds EVERY YEAR.
The cats can’t help it, it’s just in their nature as predators. I grew up with outdoor cats and have many memories of them bringing us birds and baby rabbits they had caught in the yard. But I’m not a cat-basher! I love cats and have one of my own, and will likely always be a “cat lady”.
If you have started to feed birds in your backyard and worry about hunting cats, you would be wise to keep an eye out. A well fed pet cat will kill birds just as readily as a hungry stray. Let’s look at some ways to keep your feathered friends safe from cats whether they are your own pets, neighborhood pets, or ferals and strays.
How to keep cats away from bird feeders
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Feral & Neighborhood Cats
1) Make feeders hard to reach
Any kind of ground based feeder is a bad idea. Feeders that hang right on back decks are also easy targets for cats. It is best to hang feeders from a tall pole, and make sure the pole has a good baffle. You can buy your pole and baffle separately, or as an all-in-one system.
In most cases, cats are nabbing birds when they are on the ground or sitting nearby. Just by having feeders out you will likely attract many birds to the yard looking around the ground for dropped seed or just hanging out between visits to the feeder. Our next tips will address this issue.
2) Spray / Scent deterrent
Cats have a very good sense of smell, and there are certain smells they really don’t like. Odors that are very strong and sharp such as citrus, mint, cinnamon, vinegar and pepper. This Green Gobbler Orange Oil Concentrate is marketed as a household cleaner but has gained huge popularity as a really good cat deterrent. It’s also easy to DIY your own smelly mix and spray it around (not on) your feeders and anywhere else in the yard you see cats hanging out.
Here are a few recipes I’ve seen, or try and make your own
- 1:1 Mix Apple Cider Vinegar and Water
- 1:3 Oil (eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint) to water
- Water, a few drops of dish soap, rosemary essential oil
- Boil orange peels for 10 minutes to create your own orange oil water
3) Add spikes
Cats like to stalk their prey by crouching down low and slowly creeping through cover to sneak up on their targets. If cats are stalking your feeders, it may help to make all the surrounding bushes and shrubs unpleasant places for cats to sit and walk