Nick Cramer wrote:

I saw a news story this morning about a town in Northern California which
(again) has been invaded by Egrets and Herons. I did a Google search for
"egret heron invasion Northern California" to find out more about it and
got 15,000 hits. Many of them come from other continents. Their
populations are growing everywhere in the US, thanks to their protected
species status. They maim and eat our pond fish. Your tax dollars at work.

"Thanks" to their protected species status? Hardly that. aiui, birds in
the US are treated much as they are in Canada - if they're not
considered "game" (essentially Ducks/Geese, Turkeys & Grouse/Partridge)
birds, they're protected. Don't farmers need permits to destroy pest
birds? Now, some birds have greater protection - you can't disturb their
habitats, but afaik that doesn't apply to Herons and Egrets, so why are
Herons and Egrets multiplying while all sorts of songbirds are decreasing?
Probably habitat modification.
--
derek