(DRAFT) - Taxonomy
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
TAXONOMY
NAME - pelican, brown
OTHER COMMON NAMES - common pelican and eastern brown pelican
ELEMENT CODE - 05/16/84
AOU CODE - 06/04/85
06/30/88
CATEGORY - Birds
PHYLUM AND SUBPHYLUM - Chordata,
CLASS AND SUBCLASS - Aves,
ORDER AND SUBORDER - Pelecaniformes,
FAMILY AND SUBFAMILY - Pelecanidae,
GENUS AND SUBGENUS - Pelecanus,
SPECIES AND SSP - occidentalis, carolinensis
SCIENTIFIC NAME - Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis
AUTHORITY - Gmelin
TAXONOMY REFERENCES - 609 and 2810
COMMENTS ON TAXONOMY -
AKA common pelican, eastern brown pelican *607,2810*
Taxonomy - 1 (DRAFT) - Status
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
STATUS
Coded Status
E: Federal Endangered
Federal Migratory
See Comments
REFERENCES FOR STATUS - 2810, 4447 and 274
COMMENTS ON STATUS -
May be removed from list due to recovery *2811*
Status - 1 (DRAFT) - Distribution
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
DISTRIBUTION
References on County Occurrence - 001, 115, 131, 550, 710, 810, CB1 and AO1
References on County Abundance - 550, 710, 810, CB1 and AO1
REFERENCES FOR HYDROLOGIC UNIT CODES - 001, 115 and 131
REFERENCES FOR OTHER DISTRIBUTION - H
Distribution - 1 HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS
HABITAT - Aquatic
REFERENCES FOR HABITAT - 609
LAND USE -
Water
Bays and Estuaries
Wetland
Nonforested Wetland
Barren Land
Beaches
Sandy Areas other than Beaches
Chesapeake Bay
Atlantic Ocean Coastal Waters
REFERENCES FOR LAND USE - 619, 2810, 609, 617 and 2812
NATIONAL WETLAND INVENTORY CODES
NWI NWICLS NWIMOD NWISPEC
Marine, intertidal BB2
Marine, subtidal OW0
REFERENCES FOR NWI - 619, 2810, 609, 617 and 2812
ANIMAL/PLANT SPECIES ASSOCIATIONS -
Diseases and Parasites: Bacterial: Cholera *2041*
Viral: Hemmhoragic enteritis *2004*
Helminths: Acanthocephala *1995*
Cestodes *1995*
Nematodes *1995,1791,1993*
Trematodes *1995*
Flukes *1881*
Ectoparasites *1913*
REFERENCES FOR SPECIES ASSOCIATIONS - 1901, 2041, 1995, 1791, 2004, 1993, 1881 and 1913
COMMENTS ON SPECIES ASSOCIATIONS -
Diseases and Parasites: General reference *1901*;
HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS -
V1 estuarine; Island surface area; Classes: 1) less than 2 ha (4.9 acres)
2) 2 - 8 ha (4.9 - 19.8 acres) 3) greater than 8 ha (19.8 acres); optimum =
class 2; V2 estuarine; Straight-line distance of island to mainland; minimum
0 km; optimum >= 0.4 km; V3 estuarine; Straight-line distance of island from
nearest human activity center; minimum 0 km; optimum >= 0.4 km; V4 estuarine;
Relative coverage of nesting vegetation; within the range of mangrove (FL, AL,
and LA), relative coverage is the percentage of the island supporting woody
vegetation 0.6 - 10.7 m in height; Outside of this range (NC, SC, and TX),
relative coverage is the percentage of the island surface area at least 0.6 m
(2 ft) in elevation; minimum 0%; maximum 100%; optimum >= 50%
COMMENTS ON HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS -
This model can be used to evaluate estuarine island habitat, natural islands,
and dredge islands within the eastern brown pelican breeding range;
Assumptions of the model variables: V1 Islands that are 8 ha (20 acres) or
larger are most likely to support populations of quadraped predators; Average
Habitat Associations - 1 colonies require at least 1.0 ha (2.5 acres) of nesting cover and a similar
size sandy area for drying and loafing; V2 Colony islands close to mainland
are more accessible to mammalian predators; Islands that are 0.4 km (0.25 mi)
or more from the mainland are virtually inaccessible; V3 Brown pelicans
respond to human activity within 100 m (330 ft) of nesting colonies; One
disturbance can disrupt production; Islands that are 0.4 km (0.25 mi) from the
nearest center of human activity have less chance of being disturbed; V4 Tree
heights of 0.6 - 10.7 m (2 - 35 ft) are optimal for nesting within the range
of mangroves; Outside that range, ground nests higher than 0.6 m (2 ft) have a
low risk of flooding
POTENTIAL NATURAL VEGETATION -
101 Oak - Hickory - Pine Forest (Quercus-Carya-Pinus)
103 Southern Floodplain Forest (Quercus-Nyssa-Taxodium)
065 Northern Cordgrass Prairie (Distichlis-Spartina)
REFERENCES FOR PNV - 2810 and 609
ECOREGION -
Southeastern Mixed Forest: Flat Plains
REFERENCES FOR ECOREGION - 2810 AND 609
Habitat Associations - 2 (DRAFT) - Food Habits
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
FOOD HABITS
TROPHIC LEVEL -
Carnivore
REFERENCES FOR TROPHIC LEVEL - 609
LIFESTAGE FOOD FOOD PART
General Animals Juvenile stage
General Animals Adult stage
General Crustaceans Adult stage
General Osteichthyes Juvenile stage
General Clupeiformes Juvenile stage
General Osteichthyes Adult stage
General Clupeiformes Adult stage
General See Comments; Food See Comments
General Perciformes Juvenile stage
General Perciformes Adult stage
REFERENCES FOR GENERAL FOOD - 609 and 2810
COMMENTS ON FOOD -
9999S=includes menhaden, mullet, sardines, and pinfish
*2810* 9999S = Fish species found in diet include: Atlantic menhaden
(Brevoortia tyrannus), gulf menhaden (B. patronus), mullet (Mugil sp.),
Atlantic threadfin (Polydactylus octonemus), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus),
and pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides);
Food Habits - 1 (DRAFT) - Environment Associations
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
G = General A = Adult
LIM = Limiting RA = Resting Adult
J = Juvenile FA = Feeding Adult
RJ = Resting Juvenile BA = Breeding Adult
FJ = Feeding Juvenile P = Pupae
L = Larvae E = Egg
RL = Resting Larvae
FL = Feeding Larvae
LIFESTAGE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
G Density of Aquatic Vegetation: Low
G Trophogenic Zones: Well-lighted
G Aquatic Habitat Zonation: Open water [pelagic zone]
G Water Level: Permanently flooded areas
G Terrestrial Features: Depressions
G Terrestrial Features: Bare ground
G Coastal Features: Reefs
G Coastal Features: Sand beaches
G Coastal Features: Sand bars
G Coastal Features: Rocky offshore islands
G Coastal Features: Sandy offshore islands
G Coastal Features: Vegetated offshore islands
G Coastal Wetlands: Sounds and bays
G Coastal Wetlands: Mangrove swamps
G Coastal Wetlands: Coastal salt flats
G Perch sites: Many [> 10] perch sites within 0.4 km [1/4 mi] of permanent wa
G Vegetations Successional Stage: Sand dune
G Human Association: Wildlife refuges/sanctuaries
REFERENCES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOC_ - 619, 2810, 609, 617 and 2812
COMMENTS ON BREEDING ADULT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOC_ -
Tree species used for nesting include: black mangroves (Avicennia
germinans), mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and (Laguncularia racemosa),
southern redcedar (Juniperus silicicula), redbay (Persea borbonia),
seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera), and live oak (Quercus virginiana);
Environment Associations - 1 (DRAFT) - Life History
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
LIFE HISTORY
ORIGIN: native *609*; PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: adult: head is
white tinged with yellow on crown, the white extending down neck in a
narrow border on side of pouch; rest of neck is dark chestnut; upper
parts are dusky brown, each feather whitish-centered; wing-coverts are
pale gray with white streaks; primaries are black; secondaries are dark
brown with pale edges; tail feathers are gray; underparts are
grayish-brown striped with white on sides and flanks; lower foreneck is
variegated with ocher, chestnut, and black; bill is mottled with light
gray and dusky, tinged in spots with carmine; bare spots around eyes;
eyes are blue; iris is white; eyelids are red; pouch is blackish; feet
are black; in winter most of the neck is white *607*; young: neck is
plain brownish; other plumage similar but less intense than in adults
*607*; length=125 cm *609*; wingspan=2 m *2810*; flight=a few flaps and
a glide; lines of pelcans scale close to water; almost touching it with
wing tips *609*; flies with neck and head doubled back on shoulders
*617*; REPRODUCTION: breeding season is May-June *619*; depending on
location; east coast of Florida=November-December; west coast of
Florida=April; Louisiana=February; South Carolina=March-May *2810*; in
Tampa Bay, Florida=begins in February-March *2812*; incubation period=28
days *617*; one brood/year *617*; 1-3 young/nest *685*; 1.2-1.5
fledglings/nesting effort needed for stable population *2810*; females
will renest if first nest destroyed *617*; will renest *607*; sexually
mature at 3 years *2810*; courtship activities confined to nest site;
male brings nesting material to female who builds nest *2810*;
long-lived bird *2810*; clutch size=2-5; eggs=chalky white, 3 X 1.9
inches *619*; 73 X 46 mm *2810*; BEHAVIOR: dive down on a school of fish
from air *619*; feed in shallow estuarine waters; seen 30-60 km
offshore; occasionally feed beyond breakers; frequent fishing piers; fly
low over water, spot a potential prey fish, and dive to capture it; fish
then transferred to gular pouch *2810*; dive from heights of 3-9 m; will
fish from surface of water *617*; red tides which kill fish cause
pelicans to move out of the area; emigrate when food becomes scarce;
cold temperatures cause fish to move down in water column and become
unavailable to surface feeding pelicans *2812*; foods include,
crustaceans *609*; menhaden, mullet, sardines, pinfish *2810*; maritime,
not found inland *619*; found from North Carolina to Florida, around the
Gulf coast to Texas and Mexico and southward to to Venezuela; West
Indies; Caribbean islands; usually resident near breeding grounds; young
birds tend to wander *2810*; found in salt bays, beaches, oceans;
perches on posts and boats *609*; sandspits and offshore sandbars used
for loafing in daytime and roosting at night *2810*; found on coastal
inlets *617*; mangrove keys, sandbars, fishing piers *2812*; breed in
large colonies on many of the islands in the Gulf of Mexico and on
Pelican Island on the east coast of Florida (protected) *619*; breed
only on coastal islands and in Florida *2810*; may nest on sandbars in
slight hollows in sand; storms and floods often wash away nests *607*;
nest on coastal islands in salt or brackish water and lying landward of
barrier islands or reefs where they are protected from the surf and
ocean storms *2810*; nest is bulky and made of sticks, weeds, grasses;
on ground in low mangroves (these move bulky) *619*; nest in rookeries
on shores or marshy islands; lined with finer grasses *607*; nest on
Life History - 1 (DRAFT) - Life History
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
offshore island sites that are protected from disturbance; nest on
ground or mud lumps, in trees; mangrove trees from 1-10 m above the
high-tide mark; nest built of sticks, reeds, straw, palmetto leaves,
grasses; remains of old nests used; materials stolen from other birds;
nest size=46-61 cm diameter and 10-13 cm high *2810*; nest built of
seaweed *617*; one parent stays on nest throughout incubation; both
parents raise chicks *2810*; both parents incubate; altricial young;
naked till white down grows at 10-12 days of age; both parents feed
young; fledging period=9 weeks; still dependent at this time; fledge in
June and July (on west coast of Florida) *617*2812*; POPULATION
PARAMETERS: relative trend=upward *2811*; previous declines due to
accumulation of chlorinated hydrocarbon residues, eggshell thinning and
crushing of eggs by parent, contamination with DDT, DDD, DDE, PCB's,
dieldrin, endrin, availability of food supply, human disturbance of
nesting colonies, flushed parents break eggs on takeoff, nest desertion
leads to egg predation and temperature stress on eggs and young, mercury
in eggs, direct mortality through pesticides, freezes, hurricanes, beach
erosion, high predation by fish crows, 500+ die annually after being
caught with fish hooks or tangled in fish line, many maliciously killed
or maimed, decrease in Atlantic menhaden, red tide on west coast of
Florida *2810*; since 1972 ban on DDT and reduced pesticides use in
Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas
populations have increased 2X to 16000+ nests in 1982; South Carolina
(1976)=2540 nests, 1983=5000 nests; North Carolina (1976)=75, 1983=1250
nests; now occupy all suitable rookery sites in South Carolina;
Louisiana (1983)=300 nests (reintroduced); Texas (1968)=2 nests,
1982=100+ nests *2811*; high mortality rate among preflight young *685*;
total population more stable during nesting season; most fluctuation in
the fall; post-breeding movements related to continental weather
patterns; birds move out of the northern region as cold fronts intrude
on the breeding grounds; populations in southern regions, where
temperatures are more stable, fluctuate less than northern populations;
birds are more abundant in the summer and fall on the Gulf of Mexico
when fish is abundant *2812*; age ratios (Tampa Bay)=March-July is 90%
adult; number of immatures peaked in June-August; number of subadults
peaked in August-January; early fall populations of immatures=20-35%,
adults=50-75% *2812*
REFERENCES FOR LIFE HISTORY- 609, 619, 607, 2810, 2811, 617, 685 and 2812
Life History - 2 (DRAFT) - Management Practices
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
RESULT MANAGEMENT PRACTICE
Beneficial Controlling pollution [thermal, chemical, physical]
Beneficial Restricting/regulating human use of habitats
Beneficial Restricting/regulating human disturbance of populations
Beneficial Transplanting wild animals
Beneficial Stocking captive-reared wild-strain animals
Beneficial Establishing/maintaining nesting and escape cover
Beneficial Other management practices [specified in comments]
Adverse Applying pesticides
Adverse Applying insecticides
Existing Controlling pollution [thermal, chemical, physical]
Existing Restricting/regulating human use of habitats
Existing Restricting/regulating human disturbance of populations
Existing Maintaining undisturbed/undeveloped areas
Existing Maintaining wilderness environment
Existing Other management practices [specified in comments]
REFERENCES FOR BENEFICIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES - 2810 and 2811
REFERENCES FOR ADVERSE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES - 2810
REFERENCES FOR EXISTING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES - 2810 and 2811
COMMENTS ON MANAGEMENT PRACTICES -
999(E)=monitoring of eggshell conditions, rookeries protected
*2810,2811*; 999(B)=give sanctuary status to all islands with nesting
colonies, monitor new colonies, develop new techniques for stocking,
locate new sources of birds for stocking, restore to vacant breeding
habitat, create suitable breeding habitat *2810*
Management Practices - 1 (DRAFT) - References
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
References
607* Pearson, G.T. (ed.)1936. Birds of America. Garden City
Publ. Co. Garden City, N.Y:260.
609* Peterson, R.T. 1980. Birds of eastern and central North
America. 4th Ed.. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, Mass:384.
617* Potter, E.F., Parnell, J.F., Teulings, R.P. 1980. Birds of
the Carolinas. Univ. N.C. Press Chapel Hill, N.C:408.
619* Reed, C.A. 1965. North American Bird Eggs. Dover Publ.,
Inc. New York, N.Y:372.
685* Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife. 1973. Threatened wildlife
of the United States. Resource Publication 114. U.S. Dep. Inter.
Washington, D.C:289.
1791* Deardorff, T.L., Overstreet, R.M. 1980. Contracaecum
multipapillatum (=C. robustum) from fishes and birds in the
northern Gulf of Mexico. J. Parasitol. 66(5):853-856.
1881* Humphrey, S.R., Courtney, C.H., Forrester, D.J. 1978.
Community ecology of the helminth parasites of the brown
pelican. Wilson Bull. 90(4):587-598.
1901* Fowler, M.E. 1978. Miscellaneous waterbirds (Gaviiformes,
Podicipediformes, Procellariformes, Pelicaniformes, and
Charadriiformes). Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine Fowler, M.E. W.B.
Saunders Co. Phildelphia:213-217.
1913* Peters, H.S. 1936. A list of external parasites from birds
of the eastern part of the United States. Bird-Banding 7:9-27.
1993* Huizinga, H.W. 1971. Contracaeciasis in Pelicaniform
birds. J. Wildl. Dis. 7:198-204.
1995* Courtney, C.H., Forrester, D.J. 1974. Helminth parasites
of the brown pelican in Florida and Louisiana. Proc. Helminth.
Soc. Wash. 41:89-93.
2004* Domermuth, C.H., Forrester, D.J., Trainer, D.O., Bigler,
W.J. 1977. Serologic examination of wild birds for hemorrhagic
enteritis of turkey and marble spleen disease of pheasants. J.
Wildl. Dis. 13:405-408.
2041* Rosen, M.N. 1971. Avian Cholera. Infectious and Parasitic
Diseases of Wild Birds Davis, J.W., Anderson, R.C., Karstad, L.,
Trainer, D.O. The Iowa State University Ames, Iowa:59-74.
2810* Service, U.S. Fish and Wildl. 1980. Selected vertebrate
endangered species of the seacoast of the United States--brown
pelican (eastern and Californian subspecies). U.S. Dep. Interior
References - 1 (DRAFT) - References
Species pelican, brown
Species Id M040020
Date 26 AUG 96
Washington, D.C:16.
2811* Service, U.S. Fish and Wildl. 1983. The brown pelican has
recovered in eastern states, may be removed from endangered
species list. Dep. Interior News Release, November 10. U.S. Dep.
Interior Washington, D.C:2.
2812* Schreiber, R.W., Schreiber, E.A. 1983. Use of age-classes
in monitoring population stability of brown pelicans. J. Wildl.
Manage. 47(1):105-111.
4447* Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife. 1985. 50(66):15.
References - 2