I have never tasted it, but my wife's uncle says it's good, almost like red meat. You can also smoke it with fine results I've heard.
They were almost extinct because the fishers hated them, but now they are everywhere and still protected. Like crows they shit the trees they inhabit in big colonies to death, and they eat an awful lot of fish so there have been discussion about allowing some hunt on them. As your mother said they should be good to eat.