People of a certain age well remember when our national symbol, the bald eagle, was threatened with extinction in the ’60s because of hunting, habitat loss and the use of DDT, since banned

Since then, the great birds have made a comeback. That’s heartening for at least two species — bald eagles, of course, and homo sapiens, who admire the raptors’ fearsome elegance. But as Clarke Canfield, of the Associated Press, notes, it’s not good news for some other species, such as great cormorants on the Maine coast. The eagles are increasingly dining on great cormorant chicks, and some wildlife experts fear that the bird’s population may soon be wiped out in the Pine Tree State.

Mr. Canfield reports that there are fewer fish for the eagles to eat in the area and so they’re turning more to their fellow birds. Like all raptors, bald eagles are remarkably good killers.

The balance of nature is always uncertain and even the most benign-sounding human action may have lethal effects for some species. Still, so far as the bald eagles are concerned, we’d say it’s worth it.

As Greg Butcher of the National Audubon Society told Mr. Canfield: “We’re in an interesting age where most people think birds are either overabundant or too rare. It’s hard to get it just right.”

That goes for all of nature. And a meteorite might come along and really screw up the balance.