| The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) has many | | | | very rarely found inland. Most of the time, they are |
| claims to fame. It is the national bird of Turks and | | | | found within 20 miles of the shore. They prefer bays |
| Caicos Islands, the state bird of Louisiana, an expert | | | | and other shallow marine waters. These birds are very |
| diver, and an ecological success story. | | | | gregarious nesting in flocks of male and female year |
| It battled back from near extinction in the United | | | | round. They build nests on islands. They nest on the |
| States. During the early 1900's brown pelicans could be | | | | ground or in the lower lying branches of trees or |
| found from along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of | | | | bushes if predators are nearby. They mate for life. |
| Mexico coasts - from California to Chile and from | | | | Brown pelicans had been suffering from a lost of |
| Maryland to Venezuela. However, by the 1960's this | | | | nesting sites due to coastal erosion. There have been |
| bird had disappeared from Louisiana, the pelican state | | | | some efforts to rehabilitate prime nesting areas. The |
| and from most of the coastal areas of the USA. The | | | | elimination of DDT and the restoration of their nesting |
| main cause of this decline was the pesticide DDT. The | | | | sites made the brown pelican a true ecological |
| DDT was carried into the coastal waters from farm | | | | success story. |
| lands and then entered the food chain. As these | | | | The brown pelican is now threatened again by the |
| pelicans ate tainted fish, they laid eggs with thin shells. | | | | Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The brown pelicans' way of life |
| Since brown pelicans incubate their eggs by holding the | | | | makes it very vulnerable to this oil spill. The oil spill can |
| them under their webbed feet rather than against their | | | | affect these birds in the following ways. |
| breasts, the eggs would break from the weigh of the | | | | 1. As they dive into the water to eat, they dive into and |
| parents. After DDT and similar pesticides were banned | | | | through the oil which coats their feathers. Depending |
| in the 1970's, the brown pelican population began to | | | | on how much oil is on the feathers they may be |
| recover. From 1970 until 2009 the brown pelican was | | | | subject to hypothermia or even drowning. |
| on the endangered species list. | | | | 2. Ingesting oil or oil contaminated fish may cause |
| Just months after being removed from the | | | | sickness or death for these birds. |
| endangered species list the brown pelican is again | | | | 3. Even if the oil doesn't cause harm to these pelicans, |
| fighting for its existence in the waters of the Gulf of | | | | it could cause a reduction in the fish available for food. |
| Mexico. On April 20, 2010, the Horizon Deepwater | | | | Since adult pelicans can eat up to 4 pounds of fish a |
| drilling rig exploded and caused an oil leak which is | | | | day, any lessening of the food supply could cause |
| threatening much of the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico | | | | great harm to the flocks. |
| including the brown pelican. Because this bird depends | | | | 4. Because it is Spring, pelicans and many other birds |
| on the waters of the Gulf for food and the barrier | | | | and marine life are producing offspring. Some pelican |
| islands for nesting areas, this ecological disaster could | | | | eggs have been found with oil smudges. Scientists |
| reverse their wonderful recovery over the last 40 | | | | don't know what the effect of the smudges may be. |
| years. | | | | The egg shells are porous in order to allow the |
| The brown pelican is truly an incredible bird. It is the | | | | embryos to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. If |
| smallest of the pelicans but definitely not a small bird. It | | | | there is enough oil on the shells the embryos could |
| is 4 to 5 feet tall and has a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet | | | | suffocate or suffer significant damage from the oil. |
| wide. The beak is about a foot long and has a very | | | | 5. Volatile organic compounds (VOC), oil's toxic |
| large pouch of skin used to scoop up fish and water. | | | | components, could pass through the egg shell and |
| The pouch can also be pulsated to allow for cooling | | | | cause almost certain death to the embryo. |
| during the heat of the day. A pelican on land can look | | | | 6. Once the embryos are born they will face the same |
| very awkward and clumsy but they are magnificent in | | | | threats from oil and oil contaminated fish that their |
| the air. They can soar and glide low over the water | | | | parents face - only they will be much weaker and |
| searching for fish. | | | | smaller. |
| The brown pelican is a great angler. The pelican flies | | | | To learn more about the efforts to rescue brown |
| across the water looking for menhaden, herring, mullet, | | | | pelicans and other birds endangered by the oil spill go |
| sheepshead, silversides and other fish. When fish are | | | | to International Bird Rescue Research Center ( ). |
| spotted, they dive head first to catch their food and | | | | It's not known how much damage will be done to the |
| net both fish and water in their pouch. When they | | | | brown pelican by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; only time |
| come to the surface, they drain the water from their | | | | will tell. Forty years of work may be undone but this |
| pouch and swallow the fish. Gulls sometimes try to | | | | incredible bird has recovered from ecological disasters |
| steal fish from the pelican's pouch; in fact gulls will sit | | | | before. It has proven to be quite a fighter and if |
| on a pelican's head waiting for just the right moment to | | | | needed, it can fight back again. Not all brown pelicans |
| strike. The brown pelican is the only pelican to be a | | | | live around the Gulf of Mexico and so they can be |
| diving angler. | | | | relocated again just as they were after the DDT |
| Brown pelicans live only in marine waters. They are | | | | ecological problems and the flocks can again recover. |