Endangered Spotlight: Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

By Hannah Orlove

Brown Pelican. Credit: NOAA

Pelicans have been an iconic symbol of the sea for hundreds of years.  To this day, we continue to be charmed by their ambitious bills and stoic flight.  Of the eight species of pelicans in the world, only one, the brown pelican, is strictly coastal. 

The brown pelican is the smallest pelican species, ranging from 6 to 12 pounds.  Its body is generally grey-brown and a pale yellow covers its head and neck.  The brown pelican’s oversized bill allows it to feed on fish by plunge diving. 

Range

Brown pelicans can be found from Washington to Chile on the Pacific, and Virginia to Brazil on the Atlantic. There are four subspecies: the Californian, the Eastern, the Caribbean, and the Galapagos. The Peruvian pelican had been included in this group, but research showed that it was a genetically distinct variety, and is now classified as its own proper species.

Nesting

The brown pelican nests in colonies, typically on islands.  Nests are found on the ground and in trees.  While courting, males entice a female with a series of head movements and other flashy behaviors.  A female interested in the offer will wait at the nesting site while the male retrieves nesting materials.  Once the male returns, the female utilizes the materials to build the nest herself.

Life Cycle

Females typically lay three eggs, which take roughly a month to incubate. Brown pelicans warm their eggs by covering them with their webbed feet.  After 35 days, the chicks become mobile. Then, sixty to ninety days after their first flights, they’ll leave the nest.

Brown pelicans are cared for by their parents for 8-10 months of their thirty-year lifespan. Their adult plumage comes in around three years, with yellowish necks, white heads and necks, and a grey-brown body with darker flight feathers. Brown pelican’s bodies can be thirty-nine to fifty-four inches long, and they can have a wingspan of nearly eighty inches.

Feeding

Brown pelicans typically eat small schooling fish, like herring and minnows. Instead of skimming along the surface, they plunge into the water to catch their prey. Their pouches can hold gallons of water, and gulls have been rumored to steal fish right out of them.

Endangered Status

For much of the twentieth century, pelicans were seen as competition for fishermen and as a result of their prized feathers, they were hunted persistently.  This, combined with indirect pesticide poisoning from human use of DDT, dropped the population down to the point where it was listed as endangered in 1970.  

When the University of Tampa’s research into DDT poisoning proved there was a conclusive link and not empty allegations, DDT was banned in Florida and later, the rest of the United States.  The pelican’s breeding populations have since bounced back.

Watching the brown pelican’s dramatic dive into the water for food is always a delightful sight.  The return of this population is a most welcome gift to our future generations who will undoubtedly fall for this endearing captain of the sea.