(Pelecanus occidentalis)
42 - 54 inches

photograph © Walker Golder

Status: No special status in North Carolina.

Identification: Brown Pelicans are large grayish-brown birds with a distinctive large throat pouch. Adults have gray or silvery-gray bodies with a dark brown neck (summer) or white neck (winter). Their heads vary from white to golden yellow. Juveniles have a gray head and neck. Underparts are dark gray on adults and light gray on juveniles. Wing span is approximately six to seven feet.

Nesting Habitat: Brown Pelicans nest on remote natural and dredged-material islands along the coast. Nests are built on the ground, in grasses or marsh, and occasionally in small shrubs or trees.

Breeding Biology: Adults begin to breed when three to five years of age, but occasionally two-year-olds will attempt to will nest. Brown Pelican nests are bulky structures that measure two feet or more in diameter and as much as a 18 inches in height. They are built of sticks, marsh grass stems, and/or other vegetation. The females lay two to three large, chalky-white eggs, usually one every other day. Both parents share in incubation, which lasts about 28 days. Chicks are naked and blind at hatching, then develop a coat of white down at about two weeks of age. Nestlings begin to fly at about ten or eleven weeks of age. North Carolina colony sites are occupied from March to early September. Adult and immature pelicans may continue to roost at nesting sites throughout the fall and winter, while some individuals migrate south for the winter.

Food: Brown Pelicans feed primarily on fish which they capture by plunge-diving. Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) are the most important food source for this species in North Carolina and comprises 85-90% of the pelicans' diet.

State Nesting Population: Stable; approximately 4,000 nesting pairs.

Major Threats: Human disturbances at nesting sites, loss of nesting habitat, fish kills, and discarded monofilament fishing line.

Waterbirds:
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Last Revision 5/21/98