cormorants

[Misty01]

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/636703#survey

Above is a link to an article in the star about the cull of cormorants
I think that their eggs should be oiled
We oil the eggs of mute swans and canada geese to control the populations why not cormorants?!
As the above article describes they kill the trees, nesting sites for other birds and they also eat three times their weight in fish a day killing the fisheries which in effect will kill the raptors like osprey and eagles and kingfishers...etc as well as other wildlife that survive from the fish in the lake
Hopefully you don't take offence to my opinion, I am just trying to share my thoughts and see how others feel about this issue and I am sorry if that offends anyone in advance

~ Crystal ~

[Dr. John]

Although I generally support the culling and eradication of invasive species, especially if native species are being threatened, I am far more leery of attempts to manage native species in their relationships with each other. The relationships between native species are very complex and we often get it very wrong with simplistic understandings. Peaks and crashes happen frequently in various native populations and nature seems to rebalance things in the end. I'm not saying that the cormorants aren't having an impact acutely. But I am concerned that a "solution" may not turn out in the way we thought it would.

-John

[Misty01]

Hey John,

Thanks for your reply. I agree we def. have to be more careful with the native species.
Though we kill more native species and harm the migration paths of thosands when we start to lose our prime forestry and fisheries.
Now eradication is def. not a goal I would set with regards to the cormorants, but I feel they should be monitored and their population downsized to keep our eco system in tact.
I really appreciate your imput and hope others will post their opinion as well.  
~ Crystal ~

[Ron Luft]

My impression from articles and news is that biologist/ornithologists/enviromentalists are all working on theories.  I'm in no way discreditting them however we are at a point in 'history' where we can look back to years of abuse of the eco system and try to look ahead to remedies and regenaeration. Caution is always warranted but obviously we need to try ideas within reason. Culling of excessive populations is one strategy that hopefully will work.  Nature is an incredibly complex and vast concept that we are still learning about. We interfered to get us to this point, seemingly blindly, and are trying to improve things with thought and foresight. All we can do is hope that more interference doesn't send things further askew.  My 2 c  worth.

[Misty01]

"Nature is an incredibly complex and vast concept that we are still learning about. We interfered to get us to this point, seemingly blindly, and are trying to improve things with thought and foresight. All we can do is hope that more interference doesn't send things further askew"

Ron I couldn't have said it better, great reply.  

[AaronAaron]

Culling birds of any species should be an absolute last resort, as a bird enthusiast I do not like to see any bird species killed, Cormorants are very sensitive to disturbance at nesting time, why not disrupt them at breeding time and other birds such as Canada Geese and Mute Swans also can be harassed away from nesting attempts. I have just recently returned to Ont after being in the United States and I am greatly annoyed by the way Mute Swans are being targeted as highly invasive and culled, whereas I don't see anything being done about feral pigeons and European Starlings which are everywhere. It seems the only reason biologists want to get rid of them is because they are not comercially exploitable for hunting purposes, there are many deliberatly introduced game animals which are hunted and regulated but no one is calling for their elimination, such as Fallow Deer and Ring-necked Pheasant.  Nature is usually pretty good at levelling populations without our "help".
       I'll leave it at this, because I enjoy birds in all shapes and sizes and wish everyone loved then as much as I do.

[Axeman]

hey, we've meddled lots and screwed lots up so far....why take the puritant stance when it is well meaning as with the suggestion of oiling coromorant eggs...