Minnesota has 15,421 nesting pairs of Double-crested Cormorants according to a survey recently completed by a team from the University of Minnesota. That is four pairs fewer than the nesting-pair number for 2010.

The survey was made under the supervision of Dr. Francesca Cuthbert, distinguished teaching professor in the department of fisheries, wildlife, and conversation biology at the university.

"Anglers and lake residents who are seeing more birds," she said, "are likely seeing the movement of birds from other locations that results from cormorant control.

"The control that has taken place appears to have stabilized the statewide population," she said