A Double-crested Cormorant; the birds’ wingspan can be up to 45 inches. Credit: Brian Sullivan/Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Contacts:
Impact on Great Lakes fisheries/ecosystem: Stacy Furgal, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist, P: 315-234-1329, E: slf85@cornell.edu
Reporting tool: Mary Austerman, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Coastal Community Development Specialist, P: 315-234-2260, E: mp357@cornell.edu
Media assistance: Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG's Great Lakes Publicist, P: 315-465-7578, E: karalynn@gisco.net
Public Invited to Share Observations of Double-Crested Cormorants’ Impact in New York’s Great Lakes Region and Statewide
Online tool will assist tracking of the birds’ populations and impacts
Oswego, NY, August 7, 2026 - New York Sea Grant, a collaborative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is inviting the public to document the presence and activities of double-crested cormorants.
Double-crested cormorants are a native, fish eating, federally protected migratory bird species. New York Sea Grant partnered with Wayne County GIS to develop an online reporting tool at nyseagrant.org/cormorant for the public to upload photos and report observations of double-crested cormorants’ numbers, nesting, and feeding activities.
The survey includes options for logging the birds’ impact to natural habitat, water quality, infrastructure, and recreational usage. The survey developers strongly encourage users to submit photos to show the birds’ activity and impact. Although originating in Wayne County, the nyseagrant.org/cormorant survey is designed for use by the public across New York’s Great Lakes region and statewide. The site includes a link to an observation viewer to see updates in real-time and as a resource for New York State, American, Canadian and other environmental, wildlife and fisheries resource managers.
Muscatatuck NWR Double Crested Cormorants. Credit: Donna Stanley/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain
New York Sea Grant Associate Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth said, “This new reporting tool responds to local leaders’ interest in having a way for community members to report, track, and share with resource managers information about double-crested cormorants’ activity statewide.”
Town of Huron Supervisor David Fantuzzo said, “Town residents have been calling to report issues with cormorants. New York Sea Grant has developed a way for people who live, work, and enjoy recreation along Wayne County’s shoreline to report their individual observations while at the same time getting a broader picture of the problem here.”
Double-crested cormorants utilize the Great Lakes region for breeding, with nesting colonies of a few dozen birds to more than a thousand pairs. Their droppings can destroy the trees and vegetation below their nests.
The birds’ wide-ranging diet of fish is a cause of concern for the recreational fishing industry. Double-crested cormorants were identified as a serious issue by New York’s charter fishing industry during industry meetings held by New York Sea Grant along New York’s Great Lakes-St. Lawrence shoreline.
“In meetings in Oak Orchard, Irondequoit, Oswego, Henderson, and Alexandria Bay, charter captains expressed concerns about increasing populations of double-crested cormorants and interest in seeing more research on the birds and their predation of fish, particularly after stocking,” New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist Stacy Furgal said.
Double-crested cormorants, their nests, and eggs are all federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act updated by the U.S. Congress in 1972.
More Resources
Double-crested Cormorant - NYSDEC
Double-crested Cormorant Management In New York - NYSDEC
Double-crested Cormorant Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Double-crested Cormorant - US Fish and Wildlife Service
More Info: New York Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is a university-based, statewide Federal-State collaboration between the State University of New York (SUNY), Cornell University, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is one of 34 university-based programs that connects research, extension, and education with the needs of coastal communities, environments, and economies through NOAA.
Since 1971, NYSG has supported science-based solutions for a wide range of water-related challenges and opportunities across the state. Through NYSG’s efforts, university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science and technical information to educational institutions, businesses, agencies, and industries; federal, state and local governments; the media; and the interested public. The program is administratively based at Stony Brook University (SBU) and Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
NYSG historically leverages on average a 5.5-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. The State benefits from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes quarterly.