This is certainly evidence that cats are killing birds but characterising the numbers in the studies you've cited as absolute decimation seems unfair. I'm genui

This is certainly evidence that cats are killing birds but characterising the numbers in the studies you've cited as absolute decimation seems unfair. I'm genuinely surprised at how low some of these counts are. For example: 37 bell-free cats deemed "prolific killers" only managed to kill 82 birds between them over the course of a year-long study? Even allowing for a large number of unknown kills the impact here seems small. The lighthouse story is tragic and maddening. While I opted not to adopt a new cat when my last one died, I don't support the predator-free approach to conservation.