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Residents give a tweet about songbirds

North Saanich bird lovers make pitch to protect avian friends

The Eastern grey squirrel and cats are on the radars of Peninsula bird lovers and plans are being made to protect local songbirds.

“[Squirrels] are really eliminating a tremendous amount of our native wildlife, not just birds,” North Saanich Coun. Elsie McMurphy said.

North Saanich resident Virginia Smith was the catalyst for the issue when she made a presentation to council June 11.

“We can help protect our rapidly declining songbird populations by providing safe nesting sites … and feeders positioned in a manner safe from cats and grey squirrels,” Smith said. “If the council wants to ignore the loss of our songbird populations … perhaps they could at least consider putting in cat management bylaws.”

The task of finding ways to protect songbirds was handed to the environmental advisory committee last week.