For readers who have been concerned with birds feeding on other birds, as nature has demanded for millenia, here is news that our species has been killing birds in a misguided attempt to thwart nature. The folks at USDA have provided final numbers of cormorants killed during 2007 in an effort to control damage alleged to other bird species and vegetation in Ohio. The cumulative take for 2007 was 3,689 double-crested cormorants in Ohio, during 13 "damage control activities," eleven conducted by our Division of Wildlife, with two others conducted cooperatively by ODOW, the USF&WS (Ottawa NWR), and the USDA's Wildlife Services. This compares with 5,868 taken in 2006. The report mentions the culling's effects on other species. We are invited to rejoice that 41% of other waterbirds stayed on their nests while cormorants were being shot. The DOW estimated that disturbed birds were absent from nests for approximately 7.4 +/- 0.7 minutes on average during these absences. A number I'd like to see documented. Authorities estimated that decreases in nest numbers for cormorants, great egrets, and great blue herons decreased ~25% this year because of severe thunderstorms with high winds, not because of cormorants; black-crowned night-herons, which nest later, were less affected, and suffered deficits of only 4%. Still, the numbers of great egret and great blue heron nests counted in 2007 were said to be within 10% of the mean estimates for the previous five years. Great egret nest numbers remained stable at Turning Point Island in Sandusky, where BCNH nests, after increasing 50% in 2006, decreased by 40% in 2007, "perhaps demonstrating the variability of Night-heron nest numers at that location." GBH numbers at Green Island fell by 30% in 2006, but increased by 50% in 2007. The report is said to demonstrate that the cumulative impact of cormorant culling is "biologically insignificant to nonexistent" on non-target species. It does not mention that culling has not benefited co-nesters' populations, either; i.e., the numbers of great blue herons, great egrets, black-crowned night-herons, and the small numbers of other allied species has not increased with culling of DCCO, but has rather remained more or less stable for many years. In other words, our wildlife professionals have killed thousands of cormorants over the past three years, but have nothing to show for it in terms of increased populations of co-nesters. In fact, in spite of growing cormorant numbers, no diminution of co-nesters has been demonstrated over the past 12 years, except for the storm-related numbers of both cormorants and their co-nesters last year. You may draw your own conclusions by asking for the "Monitoring Report for Environmental Assessment for Reducing Double-crested Cormorant Damage in Ohio" from USDA/APHIS, 6929 American Parkway, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]