As with any species that finds itself competing with humans for food, habitat, or any other of life’s necessities, the Double-crested Cormorant is often seen as a pest. However when their life history is closely examined and explained, as it is in The Double-Crested Cormorant; Plight of a Feathered Pariah by Linda R. Wires, they may come to be understood for the fascinating and ancient creatures that they are.
Given recent developments regarding their relationship to fish runs that are of both commercial and “sporting” interest, particularly where those developments include plans to kill sizable colonies of them, it is of great importance that bird watchers and general naturalists alike become enlightened about these too-often maligned birds in order to be prepared to discuss their role in the environment in an informed and intelligent manner should the opportunity arise. The reading of such books as this is a very good place to begin.
