Birds are eating lots of forage...

[Gomer Pyle]

For those of you who call Florida home, can these birds known as Anhinga's (locals call them darters or snakebirds) wipe out the forage in a small lake? I have noticed an increase in these specific species of birds at my favorite fishing hole and they seem to be mopping up so to speak.

[Gangley]

we have egrets which are VERY similar, may even be the same family of birds, and they will celan a pond out FAST.  They are shot when we see them on our ponds.

[Under the Radar]

And mop up they will. We had about 50 of them establish residence on one of our small local lakes last winter for about 2 weeks. That's all it took them to decimate the local shiner population. Before the birds a single cast of the net would produce 50 - 150 BIG shiners. It's now it's almost a year ago and we still can't get 10 shiners in a cast.

The good news tho is that they (the shiners) are making a comeback as long as the birds will stay away.

To top it off, they sprayed the lake and killed every bit of vegetation in it. there was little cover in the way of trees etc to begin with but once the hydrilla & lily pads were was gone things got really tough. The healthy population of large bass (>5#) is still there, but much more difficult to locate.

"Gangley" Egrets are a different bird altogether. they are wading birds and mostly will eat small  minnows etc where ever they can wade.

Tight Lines

[fourbizz]

Looks like a Cormorant to me. Nasty bastiches.

[bocabasser]

  Quote

Looks like a Cormorant to me. Nasty bastiches.

long skinny necks=anhinga's

shorter fat necks= cormorants

either way you are right----they are nasty bastiches.

[EastTexasBassin]

They are the reason god gave us shotguns.

Keep on shootin 'em.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

I'd love to find out if it is legal to shoot em.I normally don't concern myself with things that are part of natural habitat,but these guys are just plain annoying and i have seen them wipe out the shad at a few of the small ponds I fish.Luckily the bass will still feed heavy and bluegill and tilapia.They also swim under water and I have on a few occasions snagged them on crankbaits and an epic battle began. : ;D They also have a nasty habit of flapping close to the water as they fly and always seem to do it right as you launch a cast.Nothing like flying a kite first thing in the morning. : I have entangled them several times in mid air as well.They flock and sleep together and when in the early morning if you aproach a bank line or island where are all sitting they will simultaneously take flight and cause a hell of a ruckus as they flap the water and dive in.Sounds like a several dozen boulders being dropped in the water >

The only single good thing I have found they are good for is that they will tell you whether or not a lake or pond is fertile and has a good forage base.Around here any place that is loaded with shiners and threadfins is chock full of these nasty squakers by the hundreds as well.Sometimes there will be several of them feeding in one location and sure enough if you go fish that side thats where the bass are too. I find that mildly handy since I do a lot of pond scouting and if I find a stunted little dink factory or a body of water devoid of fish then there are also never any birds in the trees at these places either.

[EastTexasBassin]

In Texas, its illegal to shoot them but you can get a permit that allows you to shoot them on your own private lake or pond.

Check with your local authorities.  More and more states are realizing the problem and allowing some control to take place. 

[Hot Rod]

They are considered "Migratory Waterfowl".

So like ducks and geese they are regulated heavily at the federal level. 

There was a case a few years back where vigilanties shot a bunch of them on lake erie.  They got the book thrown at them with some huge fines.  But it made officials realize what a problems those birds are as they have no predators that prey on them.  Finally after a lot of public complaint they started a program to spray oil on the birds eggs while in nests to keep them from reproducing. 

But I  think they could nock em down even more as I've started seeing more of them in my area.