Thanks, Bill, for keeping us up to date on this. Cheers, Bill Hull Cincinnati On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 5:03 PM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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]