Hi Pamela, actually i don't understand how ground nesting birds could ever evolve in central europe (or anywhere outside Australia/Oceania), as there has always been a dense population of Mustelidae. From what i see, the /visual /diversity actually increases, as more and more species of birds learn to live with humans - a trend that started with the common blackbird, which was a shy forest bird mere 200 years ago. These days, Grey herons are seen at garden ponds, redstarts are starting to become confiding, which they weren't 20 years ago... I agree that especially my area in southern Germany is so densely populated, that modern /realities /must be reevaluated. But these examples show, birds can actually learn over very few generations, that humans aren't a threat to them. If we're reducing the level of pesticides used ( which the current trend for biological agriculture does, even though the lobbies try to stop that... you know, that evil M-company...), there's quite a chance for the residential birds to adopt to noisier environments. And if our friends on both shores of the Mediterranean stop that annoying habit of hunting creatures that weight only a few grams (most of it feathers) "for food", many more species will regenerate. In a world where everything eats eggs and young birds if they can reach them - from weasels to hedgehogs, from rats to snakes, from squirrels to ravens, I don't think cats prove an additional threat to any given bird species - at max they improve evolution by giving the Darvin award to specimen not clever enough to chose a good spot for a nest. Through their ability to fly, birds have a big advantage of not needing coherent habitats - in contrast to amphibians and many other. Greets, Martin Am 05.11.2016 um 16:54 schrieb Pamela Harlow: > Germany's bird population is declining on many fronts, both in absolute > numbers and the number of species considered unstable. Habitat decline is > the primary reason, of course, and migratory birds are under pressure > outside of Germany. Decline is especially pronounced in ground-nesting > birds. The practices of centuries past, when there were fewer people and > more undeveloped land, must be reevaluated in terms of modern realities. > > On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 11:39 PM, Garak <garak@code-garak.de> wrote: > >> Thanks to all of you for all that valuable information - to sum it up: >> Offering cat grass and maybe separating Amaryllids and cat until he's a bit >> older indoors will be enough, there shouldn't be any outdoor problem. I was >> mostly concerned since I saw how a neighbor's cat "loved" my Actinidia >> chinensis nearly to death until i fenced it off - so no magic attraction >> between cat and Hippeastrum&co. >> >> As for the slightly off-topic comments: Thanks for the hints with the >> collar - I'll have a closer look at the cats around, but I think most have >> a transponder chip for identification these days, so maybe no need for a >> collar. Neutering was already on the to-do-list - our animal shelters >> actually insist on doing so when giving away cats. As for keeping the >> fellow completely indoors: that would need a second cat and make simple >> things like air circulation in the house difficult - besides, most do not >> consider pure in-house keeping as species-appropriate. I actually don't >> fear for the balance of other species - In the rural parts of Germany, cats >> roaming the fields and gardens are commonplace for centuries. We have a >> very active bird population, and considering the "gang" of about 50 >> sparrows that rules the area, we shall see who's fleeing from whom - >> They're absolutely fearless and won't flee even if you pass the hedge they >> occupy noisily in one meter distance... >> The trouble with mis-using gardening materials as latrine is one thing I >> actually hope to reduce by introducing a resident cat of my own -I've been >> told they don't do that in their own garden and others start to respect the >> territory of the resident. Well, that one is at least worth a try ;) >> >> -- >> Martin >> ---------------------------------------------- >> Southern Germany >> Likely zone 7a >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ -- Martin ---------------------------------------------- Southern Germany Likely zone 7a