"A wonderful bird is the pelican, his bill can hold more than his belly can . . . ."

So begins a well-known limerick by Dixon Lanier Merritt that is not far from the truth. The pouch suspended from the lower half of the pelican's long, straight bill really can hold up to 3 times more than its stomach.

In addition to being used as a dipnet, the pouch holds the pelican's catch of fish until the accompanying water (as much as 3 gallons) is squeezed out. During this time, laughing gulls often hover above pelicans, or even sit on their bills, ready to steal a fish or 2. Once the water is out, the pelican then swallows the fish and carries them in its esophagus. The pouch also serves as a cooling mechanism in hot weather and as a feeding trough for young pelicans.

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), also called American brown pelican or common pelican, inhabits the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts of North and South America. On the Atlantic Coast, they can be found from Virginia south to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil; on the Pacific, they range from central California to south-central Chile and the Galapagos Islands; and on the Gulf of Mexico, they are found in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. They are rarely seen either inland or far out at sea.

At 42 to 54 inches long, weighing 8 to 10 pounds, and with a wingspan of 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 feet, brown pelicans are the smallest members of the pelican family. (There are 7 species of pelican worldwide.) They can be identified by their chestnut-and-white necks; white heads with pale yellow crowns; brown-streaked back, rump and tail; blackish-brown belly; grayish bill and pouch; and black legs and feet.

Brown pelicans are strong swimmers; young ones barely able to fly have been timed swimming at 3 m.p.h. They are rather clumsy on land, and fly with their necks folded, heads resting on their backs, using slow, powerful wingbeats. Pelicans are social and gregarious. Males and females -- juveniles and adults -- congregate in large flocks for much of the year.

Pelicans are primarily fish eaters and require up to 4 pounds of fish a day. Their diet consists mainly of "rough" fish -- species considered unimportant commercially. This includes menhaden, herring, sheepshead, pigfish, mullet, grass minnows, top minnows and silversides. Brown pelicans have also been known to eat some crustaceans, usually prawns.

Brown pelicans have extremely keen eyesight. As they fly over the ocean, sometimes at heights of 60 to 70 feet, they can spot a school of small fish, or even a single fish. Diving steeply into the water, they may submerge completely or only partly, depending on the height of the dive, and come up with a mouthful of fish. Air sacs beneath the pelican's skin cushion the impact and help it surface.

Brown pelicans nest in large colonies on the ground, in bushes or in the tops of trees. On the ground, a nest may be a shallow depression lined with a few feathers and a rim of soil built up 4 to 10 inches above ground, or it may be a large mound of soil and debris with a cavity in the top. A tree-top nest is built of reeds, grass and straw heaped on a mound of sticks interwoven with the supporting tree branches. In most of the pelican's U.S. nesting range (South Carolina to Florida in the East; Southern California in the West; and Alabama, Louisiana and Texas on the Gulf), peak egg-laying occurs in March and April. Two or 3 chalky-white eggs hatch in approximately 1 month. Like many birds, newly hatched pelicans are blind, featherless and altricial -- completely dependent upon their parents. They soon develop a soft, silky down, followed by feathers. Average age at first flight is 75 days.

Brown pelicans have few natural enemies. Although ground nests are sometimes destroyed by hurricanes, flooding or other natural disasters, the biggest threat to pelican survival comes from man. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pelicans were hunted for their feathers, which adorned women's clothing, particularly hats. During the food shortages following World War I, fishermen claimed pelicans were ruining the commercial fishery resource, and fishermen slaughtered them by the thousands. The nests were also frequently raided for eggs. With the advent and widespread use of pesticides such as DDT in the 1940s, pelican populations plummeted due to lack of breeding success. DDT, picked up by pelicans eating contaminated fish, caused the birds to lay eggs with shells so thin that they broke during incubation.

Several efforts in the early part of the century were meant to curb the decline of brown pelicans. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island as the first national wildlife refuge, a move that helped reduce the threat of plume hunters. Passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 gave protection to pelicans and other birds and helped curb illegal killing. Studies proving the pelicans were not harming commercial fisheries helped to stop the wholesale slaughter of pelicans by fishermen.

In 1970, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the brown pelican as an endangered species (under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973), meaning it was considered in danger of extinction through all or a significant portion of its range.

In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT in the U.S. and placed heavy restrictions on the use of other pesticides. Since then, there has been a decrease in the level of chemical contaminants in pelican eggs, and a corresponding increase in nesting success. The brown pelican was the first species to so recover from the effects of pesticides.

In 1985, brown pelican populations on the Atlantic Coast of the United States (including all of Florida and Alabama) had recovered to the point that the species could be removed from the Endangered Species List in that part of its range. The U.S. Gulf Coast population, which is still considered endangered, was recently estimated at nearly 6,000 breeding pairs. The brown pelican is also endangered in the Pacific Coast portion of its range, and in Central and South America. The southern California population of brown pelicans today is estimated at 4,500 to 5,000 breeding pairs. -- text provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Pelican Island Is the First Refuge -- And a Unique Refuge, Too

Nearly 100 years ago, the very first national wildlife refuge was named right here in Florida. In 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt issued an executive order to set aside an obscure little Florida island as a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds." The naming of 3-acre Pelican Island as the nation's first refuge marked the first time federal lands were dedicated to the protection of wildlife.

Paul Kroegel was the first Pelican Island manager, or warden, as the position was then called. A German immigrant and boat builder, Kroegel was interested in pelicans and the protection and management of their habitat and was disturbed with the killing of many of the birds in the area by plume hunters. Kroegel, along with the Florida Audubon Society and the American Ornithologists' Union, urged President Roosevelt to protect the area.

Today, the National Wildlife Refuge system counts some 500 refuges and covers about 93 million acres. It is the world's largest and most diverse network of land for the protection and management of wildlife.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is located on the east coast of central Florida in the Indian River Lagoon between Sebastian and Wabasso and is administered by Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge has grown from its original 3 acres to about 4,700 acres of submerged lands and mangrove islands leased from the state of Florida. The refuge has also acquired about 150 acres of barrier island buffer land. Pelican Island was designated a Wilderness Area in 1970.

While the refuge draws its name from the island, the surrounding water and mangroves are its lifeblood. The ecosystem supports hundreds of species of birds, plants and mammals, including 15 threatened or endangered species. Threatened species include the West Indian manatee, roseate tern, piping plover and wood stork, and the green, Kemp's ridley and hawksbill sea turtles. Endangered species include the loggerhead sea turtle, Atlantic salt marsh and eastern indigo snakes, southern bald eagle and the Arctic peregrine falcon.

The lagoon also nurtures juvenile sea turtles and contains 2 wood stork rookeries. The ample fish population provides food to a variety of birds, including the brown pelican; common, snowy and reddish egrets; great blue, little blue, tri-color and black-crowned night herons; white and glossy ibis; double-crested cormorant; anhinga; and oystercatcher. The primary nesting period on the island is from February through September, peaking in April and May. The area also provides habitat for raccoons, bobcats, osprey, ground doves, river otters and opossums.

Some 40,000 people visit the refuge each year, taking boat tours, fishing, observing wildlife and taking photographs. The Refuge has a number of important objectives:

• To protect the Pelican Island rookery and its status as a National Historic Landmark, National Wilderness Area and Wetland of International Importance
  
  
• To provide habitat for threatened and endangered species
  
  
• To increase public awareness and understanding of the importance of the refuge
  
  
• To protect, enhance and restore the marsh and lagoon habitat
  
  

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge faces a number of survival obstacles: water pollution; invasion of non-native vegetation, including citrus trees and Australian pines that are overtaking the native species; and shoreline erosion.

Boat traffic on the nearby Intracoastal Waterway creates waves that erode the island's shoreline; the original 3 acres of the island have shrunk to 2.4 acres over the last 40 years. The FWS has developed a 3-phase program to help stabilize the island and to help with restoration activities.

In Phase I, oyster shells and 3,000 salt-tolerant grasses were added to a 165-foot stretch of the island's north shoreline. That part of the shoreline has stabilized, and the grass and mangrove seeds are growing.

Funding for this part of the project was provided though a National Park Service Save America's Treasures grant of $115,000, requiring a 50% match. The Florida Inland Navigation District and the St. Johns River Water Management District provided the matching funds to obtain the grant.

Phase II, kicked off in early February this year, saw the movement of 475,000 pounds of oyster shells to anchor stressed mangroves. Brought in by helicopter, load by load, the shells were dumped over a 900-foot area of shoreline to create a one-foot high, 3-foot wide barrier. Volunteers will plant 10,000 sprigs of cord grass to trap sediment and foster rebuilding of the shoreline.

As important as they are, phases I and II are only short-term fixes. Phase III will attempt to find a long-term cure for the protection of the Island. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will study water flow and wave action around the island and, based on their findings, the FWS will determine what actions need to be taken to ensure long-term survival of Pelican Island. Other projects are also in the works. Bit by bit, exotic plants are being removed and replaced with native vegetation. Plans are being made to construct restrooms, parking facilities, access roads, a viewing tower and a visitor center to enable visitor access with minimal impact on the refuge.

Local, state and federal governments, as well as citizens and environmental groups, are working hard to find the answers and the funding to ensure Teddy Roosevelt's refuge is alive and well during its next 100 years.

About the Author