Pelicans, Brown and White

A Brown Pelican (Pelicanus occidentalis) soaring
over the bay at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

In 1910, Dixon Lanier Merritt, American educator, journalist, poet and ornithologist published the beloved limerick:

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His bill will hold more than his belican,

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week

But I'm damned if I see how the helican!

Mr. Merritt got to the heart of pelican uniqueness, that extravagant beak.  Pelicans plunge dive or scoop up a volume of water from the surface that contains fish or other small animals.  They force the water out of the pouch and swallow their food.  But there are other fascinating aspects of pelican life to consider.  There are eight species of pelicans in the world and they range from the tropics to temperate areas.  Pelicans are found along seacoasts and the interior of all continents except South America and Antarctica.  The name pelican is derived from the Greek word for axe and that axe is the beak.  The pelican was an important symbol in medieval Christianity.  Female pelicans were thought to pierce their own breasts and feed their young of the blood.  The bleeding pelican is an iconic image found in cathedrals throughout Europe. 

Brown Pelicans and White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) on a sandbar. 
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas 

In North America, we are blessed with two species of pelicans, the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos).  The scientific name of the Brown Pelican means “western pelican” since its distribution is limited to the New World.  The scientific name of the White Pelican means “red-nosed pelican”.  While the American White Pelican’s beak is not exactly red, it is bright yellow. 

Brown Pelican at Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina.
This is an immature bird with a brown head and neck. 

Brown Pelicans are found along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of North America, the American tropics and the Galapagos Islands.  They are not a strongly migratory species but they will wander after nesting.   Brown Pelicans are large with a wingspan of over six feet.  Their overall color is brown, with a white head and neck.  The top of the head turns yellow in the breeding season.  Brown Pelicans are gregarious and are often seen flying in vee-formations along the shoreline.  They also nest is groups, sometimes on small islands.  One such nest island is in the Indian River on the Atlantic coast of Central Florida.  Named Pelican Island, this tiny dot of sand and mangrove and has an outsized role in the history conservation.  Pelican Island was designated first National Wildlife Refuge in the country at the opening of the 20^th century.  At that time, plume hunters provided feathers for ladies’ hats and were destroying bird rookeries throughout southern Florida.  Pelican Island and several Audubon Society refuges in Florida marked the beginning of modern bird protection.  As populations of Brown Pelicans recovered from hunting, another threat arose.  The insecticide DDT came into widespread use in the latter half of the 20^th century.  This toxin washed into waterways, found its way into the food chain and reached dangerous levels in top predators like the Brown Pelican.  One of the most pernicious effects of DDT was it interfered with eggshell production.  Pelicans still mated and laid eggs but the shells of these eggs were so thin the parents broke the eggs while incubating.  Brown Pelican numbers crashed because of DDT and the bird was placed on the Federal Endangered Species list.  With the banning of DDT in the 1970's, Brown Pelican populations have rebounded and it is now listed as a species of least concern. 

An American White Pelican at High Rock Dam in Rowan County, North Carolina.
This pelican has the horn on the upper beak indicating
the onset of the breeding season.

American White Pelicans, with their 9-foot wingspans, are even larger than Brown Pelicans and second only in size to California Condors in North America.  American White Pelicans are white with black flight feathers.  Their legs are orange and the large beak is yellow.  During the breeding season, American White Pelicans develop a horn on the top of their beak.  Male and female pelicans both grow the horn and it falls off after the female lays her eggs.  The distribution of American White Pelicans reflects their highly migratory nature.  American White Pelicans breed on inland lakes and rivers in Central and Western US states and north into Canada.  These pelicans winter from Florida to California to Mexico and Central America.   

Two American White Pelicans landing in the Yadkin River below
High Rock Dam, Rowan County, North Carolina

A flock of American White Pelicans along with Double-crested Cormorants
in the Yadkin River at High Rock Dam, Rowan County, North Carolina

Visits to the southern coast allow us to see Brown Pelicans in any season and American White Pelicans during the winter.  Here on the Piedmont of North Carolina we are lucky enough to be in the migratory pattern of American White Pelicans.  A few miles from our house is a hydroelectric dam across the Yadkin River that forms High Rock Lake.  Each February, dozens of American White Pelicans stop below the dam and catch fish in the raceway.  The pelicans are already showing small horns on their beaks in February and so they are getting ready to breed.  These gigantic white birds, bobbing in the river, fascinate the fishermen who are amazed they don’t have to go to the beach to see pelicans.  This is a brief stop on American White Pelican’s long flight to the breeding grounds,  but I am always pleased to see them.    

American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants at High Rock Dam,
Rowan County, North Carolina