Brown Pelican

Juvenile and Non-breeding Adult Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis

Brown Pelicans, the darkest plumed of the pelicans, are large, stocky seabirds found along warm sea coasts and rarely inland. Unlike other pelicans, the brown pelican dives from the air to obtain its food, the force of impact stunning small fish which are easily scooped up. While the fish are small, brown pelicans typically eat approximately four pounds of fish a day including menhaden, herring, mullet, silversides, and minnows, although those on the west coast rely heavily on anchovies and sardines. The juveniles retain their overall brown appearance until around 3 to 5 years of age to which their plumage turns to a white head and neck, but with a brown nape and neck gained during breeding season. The Brown Pelican both congregates in large flocks and nests in colonies. The females generally lay 2 to 3 eggs with incubation shared by both parents. To keep the eggs warm, the parents use the skin of their feet, essentially standing on the eggs. Unfortunately, this contributed to their near extinction in the 1960s and 1970s as DDT thinned eggs cracked under the weight of the incubating parents. Thankfully, the Brown Pelican has since made a strong and stable return with the most current IUCN status of 2012 listing them as Least Concern.