Cats 'should wear bells' to help revive Britain's declining bird population

The Natural England chair has called for cats to wear bells. (Image: Getty)

Cats should wear bells to alert birds to their presence.

That is the view of Natural England chairman Tony Juniper who has come up wiith a number of ways to revive Britain's declining bird population.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: "Yes, I think bells on cats is a good idea. There’s been work done on that to work out the effectiveness of it and it certainly wouldn’t do any harm.”

Mr Juniper raised concerns about the overall declining numbers of birds while lamenting the loss of spring birdsong on International Dawn Chorus Day, reports The Telegraph.

Cats kill millions of birds each year (Image: Getty)

Data shows the British bird popular has been steadily in decline since the 1970s, with numbers now around 15 percent lower than they were back then.

It has had a significant impact on spring dawn chorus, with Mr Juniper saying there are no longer thrushes outside his Cambridge home.

Cats are estimated to kill around 27 million birds a year, with the RSPB finding they kill 41 percent fewer when they're wearing a bell.

The PDSA however says bells can pose health hazards to cats, particularly with bells getting easily caught or even leading to your cat getting stuck when ut.

Bells reduce the kills by 41 percent. (Image: Getty)

Veterinary nurse Shaun Walshe reccomends keepig cats in during dawn and dusk.

Mr Juniper says the risk from predators to birds has remained largely the same, however, he does say climate change has had an impact on birdsong.

He added: “The brutal drought and heatwave that hit England in 2022 turned soils to concrete.

“Trees shed their leaves in summer while wetlands and ponds evaporated to rock hard pans of dried mud.”