Analyzing a Trend 1

Analyzing a Trend: The Rise and Fall of the Double-Crested Cormorant

Austin Atkins

Lui Richardson

Mark Maddox

Sir Sanford Fleming College

Analyzing a Trend 2

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………….4

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..5

Findings and Analysis

Trend Description……………………………………………………………….5-6

Causes and Effects………………………………………………………………6-7

Looking Ahead………………………………………………………………….7

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….7

References………………………………………………………………………………..8

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A.L.M. Consulting GroupFleming College, Fish & Wildlife Program, 200 Albert St S, Lindsay, ON K9V 5E6

Amy Bowen

Professor, Communications 201

Fleming College

200 Albert St S, Lindsay, ON K9V 5E6

Dear Amy,

Attached is our completed trend analysis, which consists of a brief but concise report on the state and condition of the Double-Crested Cormorant, a common water bird found in North America. We are submitting this document to you for the due date of March 22nd, 2017.

By consulting a plethora of sources, we have gained what we believe to be a well-rounded scope of the Double-Crested Cormorant. We have made use of sources from past times, such as books and articles, alongside internet publications from our present time, not to mention our own accumulative knowledge. Our focus is to test the idea that the Cormorant is a nuisance to our society, and having exhausted sources with perspectives from days modern and those long behind us, we have arrived at a solid conclusion. Since we have yet to find any way in which the over-population of these birds does anything more than taint the scenery of our landscapes, we must concede to the opinion that Cormorants aren’t as bad as they have been made out to be. There is still a more-than-adequate fish stock within the Great Lakes in the abundant presence of this bird.

We believe you will be satisfied fully with these conclusive thoughts, but in the case that our input has come up short, we have no conflict with you contacting any one of us personally.

For any further inquiries, you may reach us at: Austin.atkins@flemingcollege.ca, Luigi.richardson@flemingcollege.ca, mark.maddox@flemingcollege.ca. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Austin Atkins

Lui Richardson

Mark Maddox

(Bull, 1994)

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Executive Summary

The Double-Crested Cormorant is a bird which has developed a name for itself over the past 100 years of its waxing-and-waning population in North America. In 1929, it was a species rarely seen in the Great Lakes region, and so it had yet to become the apparent threat to the Great Lake’s fisheries that it is today. Nonetheless, on the east coast and the pacific northwest, where it formerly and exclusively occurred, the “sea crow” was universally despised. Within the 20th century, the question of how such a bird has become so established over its broader-than-ever range seems puzzling. We have come to the conclusion that through the effects of climate change and various organized methods of extermination, the populations of this bird have been effected more than from any other cause. The ignorance of the average angler or environmental nativist towards this bird has caused them to unite against it, in the hopes that their ruthless methods towards its eradication would help preserve the fish stocks of their beloved lakes and rivers. Areas in North America which were too cold for cormorants to inhabit and possessed too little baitfish to sustain them, such as the Great lakes, have now become favorite breeding grounds, due to sudden increases in temperature. The inconvenient truth is simply this; the cormorant was always here, and it will be so long as conditions provide for it. The current-day surplus of alewife, rainbow smelt, shad, and inherently, gamefish within the great lakes, are by no means threatened by this bird. It is to be regretted that our biased instinct towards their outward appearance and conspicuous behavior may draw us toward such a conjectural conclusion. We have come to believe, through arduous research and tireless examination, that the cormorant, whether we like it or not, is, in fact, a vital piece of our countries ecosystem and natural heritage. As a symbol of our undying will to preserve that which nature has given us, and maintain our balance with the ecosystems around us, God hands us the Double-Crested Cormorant as the laurel of our final victory.

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Introduction

The Double-Crested Cormorant is the condemned pest of the Great Lakes. This bird’s glutinous eating habits seem to have it destroying the baitfish populations that Ontario’s sport fish have since foraged on. Making gnarled messes out of our native poplars, willows and other decorative trees, they have developed a reputation of almost universal abhorrence. Alongside this, changes in our climate, human attributable or not, are undoubtedly occurring today. This has made the Great Lakes region, formerly a place of constant winter freeze-down, a haven for waterfowl, passerines and other avian species. In the past, these animals would much rather indulge through winter in the warm climate of the American South, but due to the accommodating effects of climate change, why migrate? The purpose of this report is to draw a solid conclusion as to whether or not the Cormorant is a viable species to our society and environment. As a bird inclined to favor warm, fish-filled aquatic environments, the Cormorant is perhaps a wrongly accused defendant in this ruthless trial. In this report, we plan to uncover the inconvenient truths, by using but a handful of books, articles and websites from our modern times and times past, to discover why the cormorant has become so abundant. We will also conclude as to whether or not the cormorant is really deserving of its reputation. The Double-Crested Cormorant; a criminal or a victim?

Findings and Analysis

Trend Description

As described above, the Double-Crested Cormorant is a bird seldom found far from a fish-holding waterbody (Lewis, 1929). It is a bird which, though rarely studied closely, is never taken kindly to, since its colonial nesting habits and displacement of more “desirable” species are all too often accompanied by its presence. It has expanded its range significantly within the past 100 years.

As discussed by Dr. Harrison Flint Lewis in his 1929 thesis, The Natural History of the Double-Crested Cormorant, “A succinct description of the breeding range of the Double-Crested Cormorant may now be given as follows: Newfoundland and the Maritime regions…from James Bay and Lake Superior west to east-central Alberta and Great Salt Lake, Utah” (Lewis, 1929). We should not be surprised by Dr. Lewis giving name to the bird’s homes near large bodies of water, such as the Atlantic Ocean. What may come to puzzle those who are more acquainted with the Great Lakes is that no mention of current day nesting colonies, as seen on Hamilton Bay and Toronto Harbor, is made.

Most modern-day Great Lakes birders are well acquainted with a venue containing numerous species of waterfowl. Everything from scaups, to pintails, mallards, swans, and Double-Crested Cormorants. In support of these everyday sightings, field guides are likely to comment on the “Sea Crow” (slang for “Cormorant”) as a bird whose presence is accompanied by dead trees and

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harsh acidic soils, as seen all across the lower Great Lakes (Bull, 1994). Evidently, there is quite a visible contrast between the work of Dr. Lewis and our current-day avian experts.

What is plain to see by the comparison of these chronologically-separated pieces of data is a distinct, progressive expansion in range. Over a period within 100 years, the Cormorant has come into its own in such a vast region, in which it was hitherto unseen. One cannot drive along the Queensway near Hamilton, the Niagara Gorge or Northern Ontario’s Highway 17 without coming into contact with at least a dozen of these “vampire birds” during the breeding season. All that is needed now for this dilemma is a logical explanation.

Causes and Effects

Some would say that the overabundance of the Double-Crested Cormorant would be due to socio-political rather than ecological factors. However, the records on cormorants contradict this. A review of the population changes of Cormorants shows that populations have been in a rise and fall since the 1800s, largely due to overhunting. In 1970s, the population started to climb dramatically. There were 32,000 breeding pairs throughout Canada in the early 1970s and 226,000 in the 1990s. This reflects the idea that the Cormorant population has followed the increase in fishery needs, since both are concurrent with each other. Conservation plans would have been put in place to restore the natural population levels, but evidence that the increase in Cormorants is decreasing the numbers of fish in Canada is sparse (Linda, 2005). To understand the increase in Cormorants, however, it is necessary to understand climate change.

One of the largest contributors to climate change is CO2 levels from burnt fossil fuels, which make the earth’s ozone layer denser, trapping in heat, and causing global warming. Global energy is also composed of 80 percent fossil fuel, meaning that the majority of temperature

Range of the Double-Crested Cormorant

1929 vs. 2017

(Lewis, 1929)(Dick, 2017)

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increases (concurrent with Cormorant range expansion) world-wide are attributable to climate change. (Government of Canada, 2016)

Looking Ahead

By today’s standards, the double-crested cormorant is viewed as a pest or a nuisance, due to the appalling environmental effects they display towards humans (killing trees, ruining soils, etc.), and because of their numerousness. However, these birds can be an essential part of an ecosystem. Conclusive research needs to be done on the Double-Crested Cormorant in order to fully understand the true effects these birds have on nature, and on us as humans. Although, at this time, we have no evidence supporting the idea that Cormorants effect our environment negatively. Looking forward, we need to be able to find ways to control the populations, for our own justifications, without killing off an entire species. We also feel obliged to find the perfect number of Cormorants an ecosystem can hold in order to maintain a functioning and healthy equilibrium (Wires, 2005).

Conclusion

The strongest hope we now possess is that the reader sees the Double-Crested Cormorant for what it truly is; an indispensable, yet neglected, piece of our natural culture. We’ve seen the innumerable instances where savage tactics, to achieve elimination of this species, have been perpetrated upon it. We have examined the human-attributable effects of climate change on the temperature and comfortability of the Great Lakes Region for this bird. Now, we believe that “we” are truly the ones to blame. The Double-Crested Cormorant is not some monster seeking to eliminate all forms of happiness in which we take part in nature, to destroy our trees, soils, fisheries and waterways. It is doing simply what any species, most notably humans, would do in their position; adapt and carry on. The Cormorant is here to stay, and it is best if we learn to accept and appreciate its existence in the future.

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References

Bull, J. (1994). National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

Dick, G. O. (2017). Field Guide to Birds of North America. Retrieved from WhatBird.com: https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/68/overview/Double-crested_Cormorant.aspx

Government of Canada . (2016, April 27). Canada's Fossil Energy Future. Retrieved from Natural Resources Canada: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/fossil-energy-future/1167

\Lewis, H. F. (1929). The Natural History of the Double-Crested Cormorant. In H. F. Lewis, The Natural History of the Double-Crested Cormorant (p. 94). Ithaca, New York State.

Linda R. Wires, F. J. (2005). Historic Populations of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus): Implications for Conservation and Management in the 21st Century. BioOne.

Wires, L. R. (2005, July 11). Waterbirds. Retrieved from bioone.org: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1675/1524-4695(2006)29%5B9%3AHPOTDC%5D2.0.CO%3B2