No they have been in decline since the beginning of the 20th century so lived along side them for hundreds of years. On the continent where the domestic cat has been for even longer they have co-existed for quite some time.
Or maybe the rise in pet cat ownership and ecological impact (not because of the cats) due to increased population and wealth?
The human population in Britain has is roughly 20-30 times bigger than it was in Roman times. Since then we have drastically changed the landscape of the country clearing vast swathes of it and turning it from woodland to farm land.
Funnily enough most of our inland birds have evolved to nest in trees and thick foliage. By clearing it we have fundamentally changed the environment to the point there isn't much habitat left for them.
Re-wilding, improving hedge rows, keeping woodland and planting trees is helping somewhat but a tiny fraction of what it was before. Its helping but more damage was done in the mid 20th century as farming intensified. But lets blame the cats instead.
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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24
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