Despite recent news that the population of Double-crested Cormorants on Lake Champlain had stabilized, and the fact that they seemed to be largely feeding on an invasive fish, not native fish that fishermen seek, and a total lack of evidence that Double-crested Cormorants are having a negative impact on commercial fish stocks in Lake Champlain, state wildlife agencies in New York and Vermont, in conjunction with the federal government, will work to reduce the cormorant population in Lake Champlain.  Not only that, but Ring-billed Gulls are already being shot and having their nests oiled because “they are considered a human nuisance when they flock to picnic areas and outdoor restaurants in the summer.”

It is certainly possible that the success of one type of bird can have detrimental effects on other species but it seems suspect that it is cormorants, which are hated by fishermen, and gulls, which don’t seem to be doing harm to any other species, but are considered a nuisance when people get them used to people food, that are targeted.

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.