What the world’s most hated avian reveals about people

Few beasts have such a bestial reputation as the cormorant. It has been called the “bird from Hell”, “black death”, “devil bird” and “fish terrorist”. Fishermen despise it. Poets and novelists have captured it ominously. Where did the bird go so wrong? Gordon McMullan, a professor of English at King’s College London, argues that the cormorant has been “caught up in the tendency of human culture to sort animals…into binary categories of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, imposing a moral perspective on nature”. His new book offers a perceptive “cultural history of greed and prejudice”—not just of a bird, but of human beings.

Some of the bias against cormorants can be explained by their dark colour (a symbolic plight shared by crows and black cats). So, too, by their physique (they dry off by stretching out their wings, which can look as if they want to start a pub brawl). But writers such as Shakespeare have done a lot to fan negative perceptions of the bird, including a reputation for greed. In “Paradise Lost” (1667) John Milton portrayed the Devil in Eden as taking the shape of—you guessed it—a cormorant.

Because they are such efficient hunters, fishermen blame them for eating more than their fair share. But Mr McMullan shows that cormorants probably do not consume more fish relative to their size than other piscivorous birds. Nor is the claim that they are “invasive” correct. Their numbers rebounded in the late 20th century, after pesticides and hunting had caused a decline.

“Cormorant” migrates enjoyably from literature and history to sociology—though sometimes it is too academic. What does it say about people that they revere pelicans (viewing them as a Christian symbol of selflessness) but despise cormorants? No bird can control how it is perceived. But perhaps people can shed their misperceptions. ■