sample letter: Toronto’s Magnificent Water Birds
David Miller, Mayor
Toronto City Hall
2nd Fl., 100 Queen St. West
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N2
Dear Mayor Miller,
Tommy Thompson Park, also known as the Leslie Spit, has evolved into one of the greatest urban wilderness areas in North America, and boasts the largest colonial water bird colony in the Great Lakes basin. This colony is home to the largest concentration of both nesting Double-crested Cormorants and Black-crowned Night Herons.
This dynamic colony of colonial water birds exists in spite of the dry waste landfill still in operation at the bottom of the ‘spit’. Many visitors to Tommy Thompson Park consider this colony a great gift, and proof of Nature’s perseverance to reclaim and repair areas of neglect. The people of Toronto are proud of the Leslie Spit.
Yet the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) continues to control the expansion of the water bird colony by limiting the number of nesting Double-crested Cormorants.
Double-crested Cormorant colonies are typical of other colonial water bird colonies found throughout the world. The large dense colonies during nesting periods serve as a natural barrier against predators that feast on cormorant eggs and chicks. These predators include other colonial birds such as Black-crowned Night Herons. Populations are self-regulating once colonies become too dense.
The TRCA works closely with other jurisdictions that actively promote the shooting of cormorants throughout the bird’s migration route. Partnerships between the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Parks Canada and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating more efficient methods to kill cormorants on their ‘flyway’, leaving no place safe for these birds anywhere.
Tommy Thompson Park has become a safe refuge for these birds.
The TRCA publicly states its mandate for the park is to respect the influences of natural forces in shaping the area’s biodiversity, yet the TRCA currently applies harassment techniques to discourage any further expansion of the colony and is not opposed to lethal control - The City of Toronto currently kills thousands of Ring-billed Gulls and Canada Geese through egg oiling, a technique that suffocates developing embryos and prevents them from hatching.
It would be difficult to defend the integrity of such a mandate if the action is to selectively prohibit the natural evolution of a native species deemed unwanted by city officials.
Double-crested Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls and Canada Geese are all beautiful birds that move energy throughout the terrestrial and aquatic ecological system of the Great Lakes. Their large dense colonies are both inspiring and humbling to witness. I believe the City of Toronto has an obligation to protect the birds of Toronto and celebrate and embrace its status as a port city.
Sincerely,
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