Brown pelican: Difference between revisions

Brown pelican
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
	; Apparently Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Pelecanidae
Genus:	Pelecanus
Species:	P. occidentalis
Binomial name
	Pelecanus occidentalis; Linnaeus, 1766
	Distribution Nonbreeding Year-round

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The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.

The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats amphibians, crustaceans, and the eggs and nestlings of birds. It nests in colonies in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and mangroves. Females lay two or three oval, chalky white eggs. Incubation takes 28 to 30 days with both sexes sharing duties. The newly hatched chicks are pink, turning gray or black within 4 to 14 days. About 63 days are needed for chicks to fledge. Six to 9 weeks after hatching, the juveniles leave the nest, and gather into small groups known as pods.

The brown pelican is the national bird of Saint Martin, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the official state bird of Louisiana, appearing on the flag, seal, or coat of arms of each. It has been rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was listed under the United States Endangered Species Act from 1970 to 2009, as pesticides such as dieldrin and DDT threatened its future in the Southeastern United States and California. In 1972, the use of DDT was banned in Florida, followed by the rest of the United States. Since then, the brown pelican's population has increased. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt set aside the first National Wildlife Refuge, Florida's Pelican Island, to protect the species from hunters.

Taxonomy

The brown pelican was described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the 1766 12th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Pelecanus occidentalis.^[3] It belongs to the New World clade of the genus Pelecanus.^[4]

Five subspecies of the brown pelican are recognized.^[5]^[6] At least some of these subspecies are genetically distinct despite similar phenotypes. The subspecies differ from one another in size, coloration of the throat pouch (among other bare parts) in breeding condition, and/or certain breeding plumage details, as well as geographic range.^[7]^[8]

Image	Subspecies	Distribution
	P. o. californicus^[9] (Ridgway, 1884)	This subspecies breeds on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, and south to Jalisco. Its non-breeding range extends north along the Pacific coast to British Columbia, and south to Guatemala. It is rarely found in El Salvador.
	P. o. carolinensis^[10] (Gmelin, 1789)	This subspecies breeds in the eastern United States from Maryland south along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean coasts and south to Honduras and its Pacific coasts, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its non-breeding range is from southern New York to Venezuela.
	P. o. occidentalis^[11] (Linnaeus, 1766)	This subspecies breeds in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas, and along the Caribbean coast of the West Indies, Colombia, and Venezuela, up to Trinidad and Tobago.
	P. o. murphyi^[12] (Wetmore, 1945)	This subspecies is found from western Colombia to Ecuador, and is a non-breeding visitor to northern Peru.
	P. o. urinator^[13] (Wetmore, 1945)	This subspecies is found on the Galapagos Islands.

The brown pelican is part of a clade that includes the Peruvian pelican (P. thagus) and American white pelican (P. erythrorhynchos); brown and Peruvian pelicans are sister taxa, with American white pelican a more distant relative.^[6] The Peruvian pelican was previously considered a subspecies of the brown pelican, but is now considered a separate species on the basis of its much greater size (around double the weight of the brown pelican), differences in bill color and plumage, and a lack of evidence of hybridization between the forms where their ranges approach and overlap.^[4] (In captivity, the brown pelican is known to have hybridized with both the American white pelican and the more distantly related great white pelican.^[14])

In 1932, James L. Peters divided Pelecanus into three subgenera, placing brown pelican (including Peruvian pelican) in a monospecific Leptopelicanus, American white pelican in a monospecific Cyrtopelicanus, and all the rest in the subgenus Pelecanus, a treatment which was also followed by Jean Dorst and Raoul J. Mougin in 1979. Andrew Elliott in 1992, and Joseph B. Nelson in 2005, considered the deepest division among pelicans to lie between brown (plus Peruvian) pelican on the one hand, and the white-plumaged pelicans on the other (among which the large ground-nesting American white, Australian, great white, and Dalmatian pelicans were thought to form a clade, and the smaller tree-nesting pink-backed and spot-billed pelicans were likewise considered sister taxa). In 1993, Paul Johnsgard hypothesized that the Americas were colonized relatively late in pelican evolution, with the family originating in Africa or South Asia; however, he later supported the prevailing view that brown (with Peruvian) was the most divergent pelican (and considered American white and great white pelicans to be close relatives, implying two independent dispersals of pelicans into the Americas, with that of the ancestor of brown and Peruvian pelicans occurring early on). Sibley and Ahlquist's DNA-DNA hybridization studies and UPGMA tree published in 1990 supported brown pelican as sister to a clade comprising all the white-plumaged pelicans analyzed, including American white pelican (although the relationships among the latter group differed).^[4]

With better genetic data and more modern methods, a new phylogenetic hypothesis of pelican relationships has arisen, which contrasts with the traditional view of brown and Peruvian being the most divergent pelicans based on their distinctive plumage and behavior (and early molecular data). Rather than the brown-plumaged pelicans and white-plumaged pelicans forming two reciprocally monophyletic groups, the American white pelican is sister to brown and Peruvian pelicans, the three together forming an exclusively New World pelican clade. (Among the other pelicans, pink-backed, Dalmatian, and spot-billed pelicans are close relatives, together sister to Australian pelican. Great white pelican has no particularly close relatives; while it may be sister to the previous four, this relationship had low statistical support.)^[4]

Description

The brown pelican is the smallest of the eight extant pelican species, but is often one of the larger seabirds in their range nonetheless.^[15]^[16] It measures 1 to 1.52 m (3 ft 3 in to 5 ft 0 in) in length and has a wingspan of 2.03 to 2.28 m (6 ft 8 in to 7 ft 6 in).^[6] The weight of adults can range from 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11.0 lb), about half the weight of the other pelicans found in the Americas, the Peruvian and American white pelicans. The average weight in Florida of 47 females was 3.17 kg (7.0 lb), while that of 56 males was 3.7 kg (8.2 lb).^[17]^[18]^[19] Like all pelicans, it has a very long bill, measuring 280 to 348 mm (11.0 to 13.7 in) in length.^[6]

The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower foreneck has a pale yellowish patch. The feathers at the center of the nape are elongated, forming short, deep chestnut crest feathers. It has a silvery gray mantle, scapulars, and upperwing coverts (feathers on the upper side of the wings), with a brownish tinge. The lesser coverts have dark bases, which gives the leading edge of the wing a streaky appearance. The uppertail coverts (feathers above the tail) are silvery white at the center, forming pale streaks. The median (between the greater and the lesser coverts), primary (connected to the distal forelimb), secondary (connected to the ulna), and greater coverts (feathers of the outermost, largest, row of upperwing coverts) are blackish, with the primaries having white shafts and the secondaries having variable silver-gray fringes. The tertials (feathers arising in the brachial region) are silver-gray with a brownish tinge.^[6] The underwing has grayish-brown remiges with white shafts to the outer primary feathers. The axillaries and covert feathers are dark, with a broad, silver–gray central area. The tail is dark gray with a variable silvery cast. The lower mandible is blackish, with a greenish-black gular pouch^[20] at the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey.^[21] The breast and belly are dark,^[22] and the legs and feet black.^[20] It has a grayish white bill tinged with brown and intermixed with pale carmine spots.^[20] The crest is short and pale reddish-brown in color. The back, rump, and tail are streaked with gray and dark brown, sometimes with a rusty hue.^[20] The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller.^[6] It is exceptionally buoyant due to the internal air sacks beneath its skin and in its bones. It is as graceful in the air as it is clumsy on land.^[23]

The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck, and the pre-breeding adult has a creamy yellow head. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the non-breeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray. It has pale blue to yellowish white irides which become brown during the breeding season. During courtship, the bill becomes pinkish red to pale orange, redder at the tip, and the pouch is blackish. Later in the breeding season the bill becomes pale ash-gray over most of the upper jaw and the basal third of the mandible.^[6]

The juvenile is similar, but is grayish-brown overall and has paler underparts.^[24] The head, neck, and thighs are dusky-brown, and the abdomen is dull white.^[6] The plumage of the male is similar to a fully adult female, although the male's head feathers are rather rigid.^[20] The tail and flight feathers are browner than those of the adult. It has short, brown upperwing coverts, which are often darker on greater coverts, and dull brownish-gray underwing coverts with a whitish band at the center. The irides are dark brown and the facial skin is bluish. It has a gray bill which is horn-yellow to orange near the tip, with a dark gray to pinkish-gray pouch. It acquires adult plumage at over 3 years of age, when the feathers on the neck become paler, the upperparts become striped, the greater upperwing and median coverts become grayer, and the belly acquires dark spots.^[6]

The brown pelican is readily distinguished from the American white pelican by its nonwhite plumage, smaller size, and habit of diving for fish from the air, as opposed to co-operative fishing from the surface.^[25] It and the Peruvian pelican are the only true marine pelican species.^[14]

The brown pelican produces a wide variety of harsh, grunting sounds, such as a low-pitched hrrraa-hrra, during displays.^[6] The adult also rarely emits a low croak, while young frequently squeal.^[14]

Distribution and habitat

The brown pelican lives on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts in the Americas.^[26] On the Atlantic Coast, it is found from the New Jersey coast to the mouth of the Amazon River.^[27] Along the Pacific Coast, it is found from British Columbia to northern Peru, including the Galapagos Islands.^[27]^[28] After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter.^[29] In the non-breeding season, it is found as far north as Canada.^[1] It is a rare and irregular visitor south of Piura in Peru, where generally it is replaced by the Peruvian pelican, and can occur as a non-breeding visitor south at least to Ica during El Niño years.^[30] Small numbers of brown pelicans have been recorded from Arica in far northern Chile.^[28] It is fairly common along the coast of California, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, the West Indies, and many Caribbean islands as far south as Guyana.^[31] Along the Gulf Coast, it inhabits Alabama, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Mexico.^[27]

The brown pelican is a strictly marine species, primarily inhabiting marine subtidal, warm estuarine, and marine pelagic waters.^[32] It is also found in mangrove swamps, and prefers shallow waters, especially near salty bays and beaches.^[32] It avoids the open sea,^[1] seldom venturing more than 20 miles from the coast.^[27] Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. Its range may also overlap with the Peruvian pelican in some areas along the Pacific coast of South America. It roosts on rocks, water, rocky cliffs, piers, jetties, sand beaches, and mudflats.^[32]

Migration

Most brown pelican populations are resident (nonmigratory) and dispersive (species moving from its birth site to its breeding site, or its breeding site to another breeding site). Some migration is observed, especially in the northern parts of the species's range, but these movements are often erratic, depending on local conditions.

While usually restricted to coastal regions, brown pelicans occasionally wander inland, and there are records of vagrant individuals across much of the interior of North America. The species also occasionally wanders along the coasts of the Americas outside its normal range, with vagrants reported as far north as Southeast Alaska and Newfoundland, as far south as central Chile (well into the range of the closely related Peruvian pelican), and as far east in South America as Alagoas. Rare inland vagrants, generally caused by hurricanes or El Niño phenomena, have been reported from the Colombian Andes. They were first recorded in July 2009 in the Interandean Valley, where they remained for at least 161 days. There are four records far inland in Amazônia Legal, along the Amazon River and its tributaries.^[6]

Behavior

The brown pelican is a very gregarious bird; it lives in flocks of both sexes throughout the year.^[33] In level flight, brown pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders and their bills resting on their folded necks.^[34] They may fly in a V formation, but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface.^[35] To exclude water from the nasal passage, they have narrower internal regions of the nostrils.^[36]

Feeding

The brown pelican is a piscivore, primarily feeding on fish.^[37] Menhaden may account for 90% of its diet,^[38] and the anchovy supply is particularly important to the brown pelican's nesting success.^[39] Other fish preyed on with some regularity includes pigfish, pinfish, herring, sheepshead, silversides, mullets, sardines, minnows, and topminnows.^[40] Brown pelicans residing in Southern California rely especially heavily on pacific sardine as a major food source which can compose up to 26% of their diet, making them one of the top three predators of sardines in the area.^[41] Non-fish prey includes crustaceans, especially prawns, and it occasionally feeds on amphibians and the eggs and nestlings of birds (egrets, common murres and its own species).^[42]^[43]^[44]^[45]

As the brown pelican flies at a maximum height of 18 to 21 m (60 to 70 ft) above the ocean, it can spot schools of fish while flying.^[42] When foraging, it dives bill-first like a kingfisher,^[46] often submerging completely below the surface momentarily as it snaps up prey.^[47] Besides its sister species, the Peruvian pelican, this is the only pelican to primarily forage via diving, all other extant pelican merely float on the waters' surface when foraging.^[48]^[49] Upon surfacing, it spills the water from its throat pouch before swallowing its catch.^[47] Only the Peruvian pelican shares this active foraging style (although that species never dives from such a great height^[28]), while other pelicans forage more inactively by scooping up corralled fish while swimming on the water surface. It is an occasional target of kleptoparasitism by other fish-eating birds such as gulls, skuas, and frigatebirds.^[50] They are capable of drinking saline water due to the high capacity of their salt glands to excrete salt.^[51]

Breeding

The brown pelican is a monogamous breeder within a breeding season, but does not pair for life.^[52] Nesting season peaks during March and April.^[53] The male chooses a nesting site and performs a display of head movements to attract a female.^[26] At the proposed nest site, major courtship displays such as head swaying, bowing, turning, and upright (standing on its legs without any support) are performed by both the sexes. They may also be accompanied by low raaa calls.^[52]

Once a pair forms a bond, overt communication between them is minimal. It is a colonial species, with some colonies maintained for many years. Probably owing to disturbance, tick infestation, or alteration in food supply, colonies frequently shift.^[6] It nests in secluded area, often on islands, vegetated spots among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and in mangroves,^[24] although sometimes on cliffs, and less often in bushes or small trees.^[1] Nesting territories are clumped, as individual territories may be at a distance of just 1 m (3.3 ft) from each other.^[52] They are usually built by the female from reeds, leaves, pebbles, and sticks,^[54] and consist of feather-lined impressions protected with a 10 to 25 cm (3.9 to 9.8 in) rim of soil and debris.^[14] They are usually found 0.9 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) above the ground.^[24] Renesting may occur if eggs are lost from the nest early in the breeding season.^[52]

There are usually two to three, or sometimes even four, oval eggs in a clutch, and only one brood is raised per year.^[24]^[55] The egg is chalky white,^[53] and can measure about 76 mm (3.0 in) in length and 51 mm (2.0 in) in width.^[24] Incubation takes 28 to 30 days with both sexes sharing duties, keeping the eggs warm by holding them on or under their webbed feet. It takes 28 to 30 days for the eggs to hatch,^[24] and about 63 days to fledge.^[6] After that, the juvenile leave the nest and gather into small groups known as pods.^[24] The newly hatched chicks are pink and weigh about 60 g (0.13 lb).^[52]^[54] Within 4 to 14 days, they turn gray or black.^[54] After that, they develop a coat of white, black or grayish down.^[54] Fledging success may be as high as 100% for the first hatched chick, 60% for the second chick, and just 6% for the third chick.^[52]

The parents regurgitate predigested food for the young to feed upon until they reach their fledging stage.^[56] After about 35 days, the young venture out of the nest by walking.^[14] The young start flying about 71 to 88 days after hatching.^[55] The adults remain with them until some time afterwards and continue to feed them.^[24] In the 8- to 10-month period during which they are cared for, the nestling pelicans are fed by regurgitated, partially digested food of around 70 kg (150 lb) of fish.^[57] The young reach sexual maturity (and full adult plumage) at anywhere from three to five years of age.^[58] A brown pelican has been recorded to have lived for over 31 years in captivity.^[6]

An adult brown pelican with a chick on a nest on Smith Island, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA
Juvenile brown pelican in flight, Bodega Head, California

Predators and parasites

Predation is occasional at colonies, and predators of eggs and young (usually small nestlings are threatened but also occasionally up to fledgling size depending on the size of the predator) can include gulls, raptors (especially bald eagles), spiny-tailed iguanas,^[59] alligators, vultures, feral cats, feral dogs, raccoons,^[59] fish crows, and corvids.^[60]^[61]^[62]^[63]^[64] Predation is likely reduced if the colony is on an island. Although it is rare, bobcats have been documented eating both the offspring and injured adults.^[59] Predation on adult brown pelicans is rarely reported, but cases where they have fallen prey to bald eagles have been reported. Also, South American sea lions and unidentified large sharks have been observed to prey on adult brown pelicans by seizing them from beneath while the birds are sitting on ocean waters.^[65]^[66] In California, adult brown pelicans have become a common prey item for North American river otters.^[67]

The invasive red imported fire ant^[68] is known to prey on hatchlings.^[69] Like all pelicans, brown pelicans are highly sensitive to disturbances by humans (including tourists or fishermen) at their nests, and may even abandon their nests.^[70] Due to their size, non-nesting adults are rarely predated.^[14] Brown pelicans have several parasitic worms such as Petagiger, Echinochasmus, Phagicola longus, Mesostephanus appendiculatoides, Contracaecum multipapillatum, and Contracaecum bioccai, from its prey diet of black mullets, white mullets, and other fish species.^[60]

Relationship with humans

The brown pelican is now a staple of crowded coastal regions and is at some risk by fishermen (monofilament fishing line and hooks) and boaters. In the early twentieth century, hunting was a major cause of its death, and people still hunt adults for their feathers and collect eggs on the Caribbean coasts, in Latin America, and occasionally in the United States, even though it is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.^[6]^[27]

Depictions in culture

The brown pelican is the national bird of Saint Martin, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.^[71] In 1902, it was made a part of the official Louisiana seal and, in 1912, a pelican and her young became part of the Flag of Louisiana as well.^[72] One of Louisiana's state nicknames is "The Pelican State",^[73] and the brown pelican is the official state bird of Louisiana.^[74] It is one of the mascots of Tulane University, present on its seal,^[56] and is also present on the crest of the University of the West Indies.^[75] The National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Pelicans are named in the honor of the brown pelican.^[76]

In the 1993 film The Pelican Brief, based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham, a legal brief speculates that the assassins of two supreme court justices were motivated by a desire to drill for oil on a Louisiana marshland that was a habitat of the endangered brown pelican. In the same year, Jurassic Park showed a pod of brown pelicans at the end of the film. In 1998, American conductor David Woodard performed a requiem for a California brown pelican on the seaward limit of the berm of a beach where the animal had fallen.^[77]^[78]^{: 152–153} In the 2003 Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo, a brown pelican (voiced by Geoffrey Rush in an Australian accent) was illustrated as a friendly, virtuous talking character named Nigel.^[79]^[a]

Status and conservation

Since 1988, the brown pelican has been rated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered species based on its large range—greater than 20,000 km² (7700 mi²)—and an increasing population trend.^[1] The population size is also well beyond the threshold for vulnerable species.^[1] The nominate race population is thought to number at least 290,000 in the West Indies,^[6] and 650,000 globally.^[82] In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt set aside Pelican Island, now known as Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, to solely protect the brown pelican from hunters.^[83]

Starting in the 1940s with the invention and extensive use of pesticides such as DDT, the brown pelican population had drastically declined due to a lack of breeding success. By the 1960s, it had almost disappeared along the Gulf Coast and, in southern California, it had suffered almost total reproductive failure, due to DDT usage in the United States.^[27] The brown pelican was listed under the United States Endangered Species Act from 1970 to 2009.^[84] A research group from the University of Tampa, headed by Ralph Schreiber, conducted research in Tampa Bay, and found that DDT caused the pelican eggshells to be too thin to support the embryo to maturity.^[62] In 1972, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) banned DDT usage in the United States and limited the use of other pesticides. There has been a decline in chemical contaminant levels in brown pelican eggs since then, and a corresponding increase in its nesting success.^[27] It became extinct in 1963 in Louisiana.^[6] Between 1968 and 1980, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' reintroduction program re-established the brown pelican, and its population numbers in California and Texas were restored due to improved reproduction and natural recolonization of the species. By 1985, its population in the eastern United States, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and northward along the Atlantic Coast, had recovered and the species was removed from the Endangered Species List.^[27] Its population has grown by about 68% per decade over a period of 40 years in North America, and this trend appears to be continuing.^[6] It is still listed as endangered in the Pacific Coast region of its range and in the southern and central United States. Although the United States Gulf Coast populations in Louisiana and Texas are still listed as endangered, they were recently estimated in 2009 about 12,000 breeding pairs. Since that time the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has adversely affected populations, and current population figures are not available.^[27]

Indicator species

The brown pelican abundance has steadily recovered from the drastic population decreases in the 1940s, however bottom up control threatens the Southern California populations as food sources become diminished. It is common for forage fish populations to experience regular fluctuations, however there has been a consistent decrease in the Pacific sardine population beginning as early as 2014.^[85] In 2019 these declines were found to have reached levels which were a mere 10% of the highest reported abundances.^[41] Fluctuations in sardine populations have largely been attributed to bottom-up control, primarily including climate variability and ocean temperature.^[86] The significant decrease in pacific sardine population can be linked to the levels of nitrogen within their habitat, a limiting factor in plankton production.^[86] Pacific sardines in the California current system rely on wind driven upwelling to push cooler, nitrogen rich waters towards the surface, maintaining a sustainable, nutrient abundant environment.^[86] Continued environmental disruptions, such as El Niño, rising ocean temperatures, and increased commercial fishing, have drastic effects on nutrient cycling within the California current system, leading to lasting impacts on Pacific sardine productivity and reproductive success.^[87]^[86]

The brown pelican has been predicted to have high vulnerability to declining sardine populations .^[41] At the lowest levels of sardine abundance, the brown pelican population has been predicted to decline up to 50%.^[41] Even with a more moderate decline in sardine abundance (50% relative abundance), brown pelicans have been predicted to decrease by up to 27%.^[41] A recent decline in brown pelican breeding success coincides with the population decline of the Pacific sardine.^[41] Between 2014 and 2016, brown pelicans experienced a continuous breeding failure.^[88] These breeding failures have been characterized by decreased numbers of pelicans arriving at nesting colonies, large scale abandonment and early migration due to an inability to feed hatchlings, and sub-optimal breeding by those who do attempt to breed.^[88] Breeding success is greatly reduced by oceanic anomalies, specifically warm-phase anomalies that increase the intensity of upwellings.^[87] Increased upwellings disrupt marine productivity and forage fish availability.^[87] These trends have important implications for the health and conservation of brown pelicans, as well as other seabirds.^[88]

Seabirds have become increasingly important as an indicator species. They are often used in order to indirectly track changes in fish stocks, ecosystem health, and climate change.^[89] Environmental changes tend to have fast acting impacts on marine bird populations due to the simplicity of their trophic cascade, allowing for complex, long term trends in ecosystem health and resources to be easily realized and tracked.^[90] Brown pelicans have proven to be a useful indicator in determining the effects of the well-established fishing industry in Southern California. Sardine fishery in the Gulf of California has been showing signs of overfishing since the early 1990s.^[91] Sardine population and abundance, however, is difficult to monitor and obtain indicators for.^[91] Since lacking food availability has negative implications for breeding success in seabirds, seabird diet, and breeding success have been used to indirectly measure the population status of the fish they feed on.^[91] This model has been shown to work using brown pelicans as an indicator species. As the proportion of sardines in the brown pelican's diet decreases, the success of fisheries declines to a lesser extent.^[87] When eventually the sardine abundance has declined enough for brown pelicans to move away and begin feeding on other forage fish, commercial fishing still would be fishing in significant numbers.^[87] This indicates that even when fisheries are not seeing signs of declining sardine abundance, brown pelicans may have already been affected to the point of locating other food sources.^[87] This availability of sardines may decline even further during El Niño anomalies, when thermoclines prevent brown pelicans from reaching their prey.^[87] Brown pelican diet will mostly indicate declines in sardine abundance for fisheries during the same season, as brown pelicans feed mostly on the same adult fish that are commercially fished.^[87] Although brown pelicans serve as an important indicator species for fisheries, declining sardine abundance due to both climate changes and overfishing have huge implications on overall ecosystem health, within or outside the individual trophic cascade.

Explanatory notes

^ The film is set in Australia,^[80] although the Australian pelican is the only pelican known to occur in that country.^[81]

References

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^ "Pelecanus occidentalis". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^ Museum, United States National (1941). Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Vol. v. 87 1941. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 180.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kennedy, Martyn; Taylor, Scott A.; Nádvorník, Petr; Spencer, Hamish G. (2013). "The phylogenetic relationships of the extant pelicans inferred from DNA sequence data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (1): 215–222. Bibcode:2013MolPE..66..215K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.034. PMID 23059726.
^ Grzimek, Bernhard; Schlager, Neil (2003). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Birds I. Gale. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-7876-5784-0.
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^ "Genetic distinctiveness of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from the Galápagos Islands compared to continental North America". researchgate.
^ "Listed Distinct Population Segment of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)" (PDF). Fws.gov. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis californicus". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis murphyi". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis urinator". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sweat, L.H. (2010-09-28). "Pelecanus occidentalis". www.sms.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
^ Bond, James (1999). A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-618-00210-8.
^ Daniels, R. C., White, T. W., & Chapman, K. K. (1993). Sea-level rise: destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina. Environmental management, 17(3), 373-385.
^ Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.
^ Schreiber, R. W., Schreiber, E. A., Anderson, D. W., & Bradley, D. W. (1989). Plumages and molts of Brown Pelicans Archived 2016-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions to Science, (402).
^ Bartholomew, G. A.; Dawson, W. R. (1954). "Temperature regulation in young pelicans, herons, and gulls". Ecology. 35 (4): 466–472. Bibcode:1954Ecol...35..466B. doi:10.2307/1931037. JSTOR 1931037.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. 1860. p. 266.
^ Miller, R. Eric; Fowler, Murray E. (2014). Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine. Vol. 8 (E-Book ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4557-7399-2.
^ Maehr, David S.; II, Herbert W. Kale (2005). Florida's Birds: A Field Guide and Reference. Florida: Pineapple Press Inc. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-56164-335-6.
^ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia : Knowledge in depth. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-85229-961-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Fergus, Charles (2003). Wildlife of Virginia and Maryland and Washington. Stackpole Books. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-8117-2821-8.
^ Rea, Amadeo M. (2007). Wings in the Desert: A Folk Ornithology of the Northern Pimans. University of Arizona Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8165-2459-4.
^ ^a ^b Anonymous (2005). The Encyclopedia of Birds. Parragon. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4054-9851-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis (PDF) (Report). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jaramillo, A. (2009). "Humboldt Current seabirding in Chile". Neotropical Birding. 4: 27–39.
^ Kaufman, Kenn (2001). Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-618-15988-8.
^ Schulenberg, T.S.; D.S. Stotz; D.F. Lane; J.P. P'Neill; T.A. Parker III (2007). Birds of Peru. Christopher Helm. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9.
^ Anonymous (2004). Port of the Americas, Municipalities of Guayanilla-Penuelas and Ponce: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Army Corps of Engineers. p. 38.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bureau of Reclamation, United States (2002). Imperial Irrigation District Water Conservation and Transfer Project and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan: Environmental Impact Statement. Northwestern University. pp. 25–26.
^ Anonymous (1958). The Audubon Bulletin. Illinois Audubon Society. pp. 208–209.
^ Lynch, Maurice P. (1998). Minding the Coast: It's Everybody's Business : Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference of the Coastal Society, Addendum Volume, 12–15 July, 1998, the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. Coastal Society. p. 21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
^ Hall, Derek (2004). Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Thunder Bay Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-59223-190-4.
^ Richardson, F. (1939). "Functional Aspects of the Pneumatic System of the California Brown Pelican" (PDF). The Condor. 41 (1): 13–17. doi:10.2307/1364267. JSTOR 1364267.
^ Region, United States Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS; Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz Institute of Marine; Observatory, Point Reyes Bird; Division, Science Applications International Corporation Applied Environmental Science (1987). Final report, California seabird ecology study. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California. p. 98.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Michot, T. C.; Bettinger, K. M. (1975). New Orleans to Venice Hurricane Protection and Barrier Features: Environmental Impact Statement. p. 4.
^ Anderson, Daniel W.; Gress, Franklin; Mais, Kenneth F.; Kelly, Paul R. (1980). "Brown Pelicans as Anchovy Stock Indicators and their Relationships to Commercial Fishing" (PDF). CalCOFI Reports. 21: 54–61.
^ "Pelecanus occidentalis (Brown Pelican)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kaplan, IC; Francis, TB; Punt, AE; Koehn, LE; Curchitser, E; Hurtado-Ferro, F; Johnson, KF; Lluch-Cota, SE; Sydeman, WJ; Essington, TE; Taylor, N (2019-05-16). "A multi-model approach to understanding the role of Pacific sardine in the California Current food web". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 617–618: 307–321. Bibcode:2019MEPS..617..307K. doi:10.3354/meps12504. ISSN 0171-8630.
^ ^a ^b Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon: Environmental Impact Statement. 2010. p. 486.
^ Casotte Landing LNG Project, Bayou Casotte Energy LLC: Environmental Impact Statement. 2006. pp. 4–66.
^ Mora, M.A. (1989). "Predation by a Brown Pelican at a Mixed Species Heronry". Condor. 91 (3): 742–743. doi:10.2307/1368134. JSTOR 1368134.
^ Horton, C.A.; R.M. Suryan (2012). "Brown Pelicans: A new disturbance source to breeding Common Murres in Oregon?". Oregon Birds. 38: 84–88.
^ Dan A. Tallman; David L. Swanson; Jeffrey S. Palmer (2002). Birds of South Dakota (Hardcover ed.). Northern State University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-929918-06-8.
^ ^a ^b Rylander, Kent (2010). The Behavior of Texas Birds. University of Texas Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-292-77472-8.
^ Arnqvist, G. (1992). Brown pelican foraging success related to age and height of dive. The Condor, 94(2), 521-522.
^ Zavalaga, C. B., Dell'Omo, G., Becciu, P., & Yoda, K. (2011). Patterns of GPS tracks suggest nocturnal foraging by incubating Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus). PloS one, 6(5), e19966.
^ "Brown pelican". Smithsonian's National Zoological Park. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
^ Schmidt-Nelsen, K.; Fange, R. (1958). "The function of the salt gland in the Brown Pelican" (PDF). The Auk. 75 (3): 282–289. doi:10.2307/4081974. JSTOR 4081974. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nellis, David W. (2001). Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-56164-191-8.
^ ^a ^b East Harrison County Connector, Harrison County: Environmental Impact Statement. 2003. pp. 4–67.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Campbell, Bruce; Lack, Elizabeth (2013). A Dictionary of Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 443. ISBN 978-1-4081-3839-7.
^ ^a ^b Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Tactical Infrastructure, Rio Grande Valley Sector: Environmental Impact Statement. 2007. pp. A–1.
^ ^a ^b "Brown Pelican | The Common Pelican of America". 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
^ Soper, Tony (1989). Oceans of Birds. David & Charles. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7153-9199-0.
^ Gage, Laurie J.; Duerr, Rebecca S. (2008). Hand-Rearing Birds. John Wiley & Sons. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-470-37630-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c Scott, Victoria. "Pelecanus occidentalis (brown pelican)". Animaldiversity.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Pelecanus occidentalis". www.sms.si.edu. Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
^ San Diego Harbor Deepening Project: Environmental Impact Statement. Vol. 3. 2003. p. 21.
^ ^a ^b Schreiber, Ralph W.; Risebrough, Robert W. (1972). "Studies of the Brown Pelican". The Wilson Bulletin. 84 (2): 119–135. JSTOR 4160189.
^ Anderson, Daniel W.; Keith, James O. (1980-06-01). "The human influence on seabird nesting success: Conservation implications". Biological Conservation. 18 (1): 65–80. Bibcode:1980BCons..18...65A. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(80)90067-1.
^ Pinson, D.; Drummond, H. (1993-02-01). "Brown pelican siblicide and the prey-size hypothesis". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 32 (2): 111–118. Bibcode:1993BEcoS..32..111P. doi:10.1007/BF00164043. S2CID 22876247.
^ Shields, Mark (2014). "Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.)". The Birds of North America Online. doi:10.2173/bna.609. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
^ Coker, Robert Ervin (1919). Habits and economic relations of the guano birds of Peru. Vol. v. 56 1920. Washington, D.C. : United States National Museum. pp. 449–511.
^ Dietrich, Daniel (15 December 2023). "River Otters With a New Taste for Pelican Are Changing a California Park's Ecology". National Audubon Society.
^ Todd, David A.; Ogren, Jonathan; Crosby, Clare (2016). The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People. Texas A&M University Press. p. 475. ISBN 978-1-62349-372-1.
^ Nellis, David W. (2001). Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-56164-191-8.
^ Brown Pelican. Smithsonian's National Zoological Park
^ Minahan, James (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 Volumes]. American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press. pp. 669, 741, 751, 761. ISBN 978-0-313-34497-8.
^ Louisiana Conservationist. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department. 1969. p. 92.
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^ "Hornets announce name change to Pelicans". National Basketball Association. January 24, 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-08-01. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
^ Manzer, T. (October 2, 1998). "Pelican's Goodbye is a Sad Song". Long Beach Press-Telegram.
^ Allen, B. (2019). Pelican. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 152–153. ISBN 9781789141177.
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^ Campbell, Iain; Woods, Sam (2013). Wildlife of Australia. Princeton University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-4008-4682-5.
^ Cappiello, Dina (November 12, 2009). "Brown pelicans off endangered species list". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
^ Doub, J. Peyton (2016). The Endangered Species Act: History, Implementation, Successes, and Controversies. Chemical Rubber Company Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4665-0739-5.
^ Stinson, D. W. (2014). "Draft periodic status review for the Brown Pelican" (PDF). Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
^ Hill, Kevin T., creator. Assessment of the Pacific sardine resource in 2015 for U.S.A. management in 2015-16. OCLC 913226525.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Checkley, David M.; Asch, Rebecca G.; Rykaczewski, Ryan R. (2017-01-03). "Climate, Anchovy, and Sardine". Annual Review of Marine Science. 9 (1): 469–493. Bibcode:2017ARMS....9..469C. doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033819. ISSN 1941-1405. PMID 28045355.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Velarde, Enriqueta; Ezcurra, Exequiel; Anderson, Daniel W. (December 2013). "Seabird diets provide early warning of sardine fishery declines in the Gulf of California". Scientific Reports. 3 (1): 1332. Bibcode:2013NatSR...3.1332V. doi:10.1038/srep01332. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 3580326. PMID 23434761.
^ ^a ^b ^c Anderson, Daniel W.; Godínez-Reyes, Carlos R.; Velarde, Enriqueta; Avalos-Tellez, Rosalía; Ramírez-Delgado, David; Moreno-Prado, Hugo; Bowen, Thomas; Gress, Franklin; Trejo-Ventura, Jesus; Adrean, Lindsay; Meltzer, Lorayne (2017-03-31). "Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus (Aves: Pelecanidae): Five decades with ENSO, dynamic nesting, and contemporary breeding status in the Gulf of California". Ciencias Marinas. 43 (1): 1–34. doi:10.7773/cm.v43i1.2710. ISSN 2395-9053.
^ Einoder, L. D. (2009-01-01). "A review of the use of seabirds as indicators in fisheries and ecosystem management". Fisheries Research. 95 (1): 6–13. Bibcode:2009FishR..95....6E. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2008.09.024. ISSN 0165-7836.
^ Durant, Jm; Hjermann, Dø; Frederiksen, M; Charrassin, Jb; Le Maho, Y; Sabarros, Ps; Crawford, Rjm; Stenseth, Nc (2009-07-14). "Pros and cons of using seabirds as ecological indicators". Climate Research. 39 (2): 115–129. Bibcode:2009ClRes..39..115D. doi:10.3354/cr00798. hdl:10852/37340. ISSN 0936-577X.
^ ^a ^b ^c Velarde, Enriqueta; Ezcurra, Exequiel; Cisneros-Mata, Miguel A.; LavÍn, Miguel F. (April 2004). "SEABIRD ECOLOGY, EL NIÑO ANOMALIES, AND PREDICTION OF SARDINE FISHERIES IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA". Ecological Applications. 14 (2): 607–615. Bibcode:2004EcoAp..14..607V. doi:10.1890/02-5320. ISSN 1051-0761.

External links

Explore Species: Brown Pelican at eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Brown Pelican photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
Field Guide Page on Flickr
Interactive range map of Pelecanus occidentalis at IUCN Red List maps

[82] The film is set in Australia,^[80] although the Australian pelican is the only pelican known to occur in that country.^[81]

[iucn_status_19_November_2021-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f BirdLife International (2018). "Pelecanus occidentalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22733989A132663224. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22733989A132663224.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.

[NatureServe-2] "Pelecanus occidentalis". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 19 April 2024.

[3] Museum, United States National (1941). Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Vol. v. 87 1941. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 180.

[:02-4] Kennedy, Martyn; Taylor, Scott A.; Nádvorník, Petr; Spencer, Hamish G. (2013). "The phylogenetic relationships of the extant pelicans inferred from DNA sequence data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (1): 215–222. Bibcode:2013MolPE..66..215K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.034. PMID 23059726.

[5] Grzimek, Bernhard; Schlager, Neil (2003). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Birds I. Gale. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-7876-5784-0.

[hbw2-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Turner, Angela (2020). Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A.; Jutglar, F.; de Juana, E.; Kirwan, G.M. (eds.). "Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.brnpel.01. Retrieved August 18, 2017.

[7] "Genetic distinctiveness of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from the Galápagos Islands compared to continental North America". researchgate.

[8] "Listed Distinct Population Segment of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)" (PDF). Fws.gov. Retrieved 17 March 2022.

[9] "Pelecanus occidentalis californicus". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.

[10] "Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.

[11] "Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.

[12] "Pelecanus occidentalis murphyi". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.

[13] "Pelecanus occidentalis urinator". itis.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.

[:3-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sweat, L.H. (2010-09-28). "Pelecanus occidentalis". www.sms.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-08-19.

[15] Bond, James (1999). A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-618-00210-8.

[16] Daniels, R. C., White, T. W., & Chapman, K. K. (1993). Sea-level rise: destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina. Environmental management, 17(3), 373-385.

[CRC2-17] Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.

[18] Schreiber, R. W., Schreiber, E. A., Anderson, D. W., & Bradley, D. W. (1989). Plumages and molts of Brown Pelicans Archived 2016-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions to Science, (402).

[19] Bartholomew, G. A.; Dawson, W. R. (1954). "Temperature regulation in young pelicans, herons, and gulls". Ecology. 35 (4): 466–472. Bibcode:1954Ecol...35..466B. doi:10.2307/1931037. JSTOR 1931037.

[:11-20] Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. 1860. p. 266.

[21] Miller, R. Eric; Fowler, Murray E. (2014). Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine. Vol. 8 (E-Book ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4557-7399-2.

[22] Maehr, David S.; II, Herbert W. Kale (2005). Florida's Birds: A Field Guide and Reference. Florida: Pineapple Press Inc. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-56164-335-6.

[23] The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia : Knowledge in depth. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-85229-961-6.

[:4-24] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Fergus, Charles (2003). Wildlife of Virginia and Maryland and Washington. Stackpole Books. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-8117-2821-8.

[:10-25] Rea, Amadeo M. (2007). Wings in the Desert: A Folk Ornithology of the Northern Pimans. University of Arizona Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8165-2459-4.

[:0-26] Anonymous (2005). The Encyclopedia of Birds. Parragon. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4054-9851-7.

[:1-27] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis (PDF) (Report). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2015.

[Jaramillo2009-28] Jaramillo, A. (2009). "Humboldt Current seabirding in Chile". Neotropical Birding. 4: 27–39.

[29] Kaufman, Kenn (2001). Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-618-15988-8.

[30] Schulenberg, T.S.; D.S. Stotz; D.F. Lane; J.P. P'Neill; T.A. Parker III (2007). Birds of Peru. Christopher Helm. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9.

[31] Anonymous (2004). Port of the Americas, Municipalities of Guayanilla-Penuelas and Ponce: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Army Corps of Engineers. p. 38.

[:2-32] Bureau of Reclamation, United States (2002). Imperial Irrigation District Water Conservation and Transfer Project and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan: Environmental Impact Statement. Northwestern University. pp. 25–26.

[33] Anonymous (1958). The Audubon Bulletin. Illinois Audubon Society. pp. 208–209.

[34] Lynch, Maurice P. (1998). Minding the Coast: It's Everybody's Business : Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference of the Coastal Society, Addendum Volume, 12–15 July, 1998, the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. Coastal Society. p. 21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-09-26.

[35] Hall, Derek (2004). Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Thunder Bay Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-59223-190-4.

[36] Richardson, F. (1939). "Functional Aspects of the Pneumatic System of the California Brown Pelican" (PDF). The Condor. 41 (1): 13–17. doi:10.2307/1364267. JSTOR 1364267.

[37] Region, United States Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS; Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz Institute of Marine; Observatory, Point Reyes Bird; Division, Science Applications International Corporation Applied Environmental Science (1987). Final report, California seabird ecology study. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California. p. 98.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[38] Michot, T. C.; Bettinger, K. M. (1975). New Orleans to Venice Hurricane Protection and Barrier Features: Environmental Impact Statement. p. 4.

[39] Anderson, Daniel W.; Gress, Franklin; Mais, Kenneth F.; Kelly, Paul R. (1980). "Brown Pelicans as Anchovy Stock Indicators and their Relationships to Commercial Fishing" (PDF). CalCOFI Reports. 21: 54–61.

[40] "Pelecanus occidentalis (Brown Pelican)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2022.

[:17-41] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kaplan, IC; Francis, TB; Punt, AE; Koehn, LE; Curchitser, E; Hurtado-Ferro, F; Johnson, KF; Lluch-Cota, SE; Sydeman, WJ; Essington, TE; Taylor, N (2019-05-16). "A multi-model approach to understanding the role of Pacific sardine in the California Current food web". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 617–618: 307–321. Bibcode:2019MEPS..617..307K. doi:10.3354/meps12504. ISSN 0171-8630.

[:13-42] Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon: Environmental Impact Statement. 2010. p. 486.

[43] Casotte Landing LNG Project, Bayou Casotte Energy LLC: Environmental Impact Statement. 2006. pp. 4–66.

[44] Mora, M.A. (1989). "Predation by a Brown Pelican at a Mixed Species Heronry". Condor. 91 (3): 742–743. doi:10.2307/1368134. JSTOR 1368134.

[45] Horton, C.A.; R.M. Suryan (2012). "Brown Pelicans: A new disturbance source to breeding Common Murres in Oregon?". Oregon Birds. 38: 84–88.

[46] Dan A. Tallman; David L. Swanson; Jeffrey S. Palmer (2002). Birds of South Dakota (Hardcover ed.). Northern State University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-929918-06-8.

[:14-47] Rylander, Kent (2010). The Behavior of Texas Birds. University of Texas Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-292-77472-8.

[48] Arnqvist, G. (1992). Brown pelican foraging success related to age and height of dive. The Condor, 94(2), 521-522.

[49] Zavalaga, C. B., Dell'Omo, G., Becciu, P., & Yoda, K. (2011). Patterns of GPS tracks suggest nocturnal foraging by incubating Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus). PloS one, 6(5), e19966.

[50] "Brown pelican". Smithsonian's National Zoological Park. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2017-10-22.

[51] Schmidt-Nelsen, K.; Fange, R. (1958). "The function of the salt gland in the Brown Pelican" (PDF). The Auk. 75 (3): 282–289. doi:10.2307/4081974. JSTOR 4081974. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2017-10-23.

[:16-52] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nellis, David W. (2001). Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean. Pineapple Press Inc. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-56164-191-8.

[:5-53] East Harrison County Connector, Harrison County: Environmental Impact Statement. 2003. pp. 4–67.

[:7-54] Campbell, Bruce; Lack, Elizabeth (2013). A Dictionary of Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 443. ISBN 978-1-4081-3839-7.

[:8-55] Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Tactical Infrastructure, Rio Grande Valley Sector: Environmental Impact Statement. 2007. pp. A–1.

[:12-56] "Brown Pelican | The Common Pelican of America". 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2017-07-06.

[57] Soper, Tony (1989). Oceans of Birds. David & Charles. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7153-9199-0.

[58] Gage, Laurie J.; Duerr, Rebecca S. (2008). Hand-Rearing Birds. John Wiley & Sons. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-470-37630-0.

[animaldiversity.org-59] Scott, Victoria. "Pelecanus occidentalis (brown pelican)". Animaldiversity.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.

[:15-60] "Pelecanus occidentalis". www.sms.si.edu. Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-09-29.

[:6-61] San Diego Harbor Deepening Project: Environmental Impact Statement. Vol. 3. 2003. p. 21.

[:18-62] Schreiber, Ralph W.; Risebrough, Robert W. (1972). "Studies of the Brown Pelican". The Wilson Bulletin. 84 (2): 119–135. JSTOR 4160189.

[63] Anderson, Daniel W.; Keith, James O. (1980-06-01). "The human influence on seabird nesting success: Conservation implications". Biological Conservation. 18 (1): 65–80. Bibcode:1980BCons..18...65A. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(80)90067-1.

[64] Pinson, D.; Drummond, H. (1993-02-01). "Brown pelican siblicide and the prey-size hypothesis". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 32 (2): 111–118. Bibcode:1993BEcoS..32..111P. doi:10.1007/BF00164043. S2CID 22876247.

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[National-70] Brown Pelican. Smithsonian's National Zoological Park

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Short description|Species of bird}}
+{{Good article}}
+{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
-{{good article}}
+{{Speciesbox
-{{speciesbox
 | name = Brown pelican
 | image = Brown_Pelican21K.jpg
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | status_system = IUCN3.1
 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Pelecanus occidentalis'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22733989A132663224 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22733989A132663224.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
+| status2 = G4
+| status2_system = TNC
+| status2_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web |title=Pelecanus occidentalis |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.817986/Pelecanus_occidentalis |website=[[NatureServe]] Explorer |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref>
 | genus = Pelecanus
 | species = occidentalis
 | authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766
-| range_map = Distribution Map Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis).png
+| range_map = Pelecanus occidentalis map.svg
-| range_map_caption = Distribution of brown pelican<br>Red: Year-round Nonbreeding<br>Orange: Year-round Breeding
+| range_map_caption = Distribution
+{{leftlegend|#5f8dd3|Nonbreeding}}  {{leftlegend|#8d5fd3|Year-round}}
 }}
-The '''brown pelican''' (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a [[bird]] of the [[pelican]] [[Family (biology)|family]], [[Pelican|Pelecanidae]], one of three [[species]] found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from [[New Jersey]] to the mouth of the [[Amazon River]], and along the [[Pacific coast|Pacific Coast]] from [[British Columbia]] to northern [[Chile]], including the [[Galapagos Islands]]. The [[nominate subspecies]] in its [[Glossary of bird terms#breeding plumage|breeding plumage]] has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The [[nape]] and neck are dark maroon&ndash;brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the [[gular pouch]], and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
+The '''brown pelican''' ('''''Pelecanus occidentalis''''') is a [[bird]] of the [[pelican]] family, [[Pelecanidae]], one of three [[species]] found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from [[New Jersey]] to the mouth of the [[Amazon River]], and along the [[Pacific coast|Pacific Coast]] from [[British Columbia]] to Peru, including the [[Galapagos Islands]]. The [[nominate subspecies]] in its [[Glossary of bird terms#breeding plumage|breeding plumage]] has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The [[nape]] and neck are dark maroon&ndash;brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the [[gular pouch]], and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
 The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats [[amphibian]]s, [[crustacean]]s, and the [[Bird egg|eggs]] and nestlings of birds. It nests in [[Colony (biology)|colonies]] in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and [[Mangrove swamp|mangroves]]. Females lay two or three oval, chalky white eggs. [[Incubation period|Incubation]] takes 28 to 30 days with both sexes sharing duties. The newly hatched chicks are pink, turning gray or black within 4 to 14 days. About 63 days are needed for chicks to [[fledge]]. Six to 9 weeks after hatching, the juveniles leave the nest, and gather into small groups known as pods.
-The brown pelican is the [[List of national birds|national bird]] of [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]], [[Barbados]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]], and the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]], and the official [[List of U.S. state birds|state bird]] of [[Louisiana]], appearing on the flag, seal, or coat of arms of each. It has been rated as a [[species of least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]]. It was listed under the [[Endangered Species Act|United States Endangered Species Act]] from 1970 to 2009, as pesticides such as  [[dieldrin]] and [[DDT]] threatened its future in the [[Southeastern United States]] and [[California]]. In 1972, the use of DDT was banned in [[Florida]], followed by the rest of the United States. Since then, the brown pelican's population has increased. In 1903, [[Theodore Roosevelt]] set aside the first [[National Wildlife Refuge]], Florida's [[Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge|Pelican Island]],  to protect the species from hunters.
+The brown pelican is the [[List of national birds|national bird]] of [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]], [[Barbados]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]], and the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]], and the official [[List of U.S. state birds|state bird]] of [[Louisiana]], appearing on the flag, seal, or coat of arms of each. It has been rated as a [[species of least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]]. It was listed under the [[Endangered Species Act|United States Endangered Species Act]] from 1970 to 2009, as pesticides such as [[dieldrin]] and [[DDT]] threatened its future in the [[Southeastern United States]] and [[California]]. In 1972, the use of DDT was banned in [[Florida]], followed by the rest of the United States. Since then, the brown pelican's population has increased. In 1903, [[Theodore Roosevelt]] set aside the first [[National Wildlife Refuge]], Florida's [[Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge|Pelican Island]], to protect the species from hunters.
 == Taxonomy ==
-The brown pelican was [[species description|described]] by Swedish [[zoologist]] [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the 1766 12th edition of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'', where it was given the binomial name of ''Pelecanus occidentalis.''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54275#page/212/mode/1up|title=Proceedings of the United States National Museum|volume=v. 87 1941|last=Museum|first=United States National|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|year=1941|pages=180|language=en}}</ref> It belongs to the [[New World]] [[clade]] of the genus ''[[Pelecanus]]''.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last1=Kennedy|first1=Martyn|last2=Taylor|first2=Scott A.|last3=Nádvorník|first3=Petr|last4=Spencer|first4=Hamish G.|date=2013|title=The phylogenetic relationships of the extant pelicans inferred from DNA sequence data|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=66|issue=1|pages=215–222|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.034|pmid=23059726}}</ref>
+The brown pelican was [[species description|described]] by Swedish zoologist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the 1766 12th edition of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'', where it was given the binomial name of ''Pelecanus occidentalis.''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54275#page/212/mode/1up|title=Proceedings of the United States National Museum|volume=v. 87 1941|last=Museum|first=United States National|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|year=1941|pages=180|language=en}}</ref> It belongs to the [[New World]] clade of the genus ''[[Pelecanus]]''.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last1=Kennedy|first1=Martyn|last2=Taylor|first2=Scott A.|last3=Nádvorník|first3=Petr|last4=Spencer|first4=Hamish G.|date=2013|title=The phylogenetic relationships of the extant pelicans inferred from DNA sequence data|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=66|issue=1|pages=215–222|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.034|pmid=23059726|bibcode=2013MolPE..66..215K }}</ref>
-Five [[subspecies]] of the brown pelican are recognized. <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrFFAAAAYAAJ|title=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Birds I|last1=Grzimek|first1=Bernhard|last2=Schlager|first2=Neil|date=2003|publisher=Gale|isbn=978-0-7876-5784-0|pages=231|language=en}}</ref><ref name="hbw2">{{cite web|url=http://www.hbw.com/species/brown-pelican-pelecanus-occidentalis|title=Brown Pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'')|last1=Turner|first1=Angela|year=2017|editor1-last=Elliott|editor1-first=A.|editor2-last=Christie|editor2-first=D.A.|work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive|publisher=Lynx Edicions|location=Barcelona|access-date=August 18, 2017|url-access=subscription|editor3-last=Jutglar|editor3-first=F.|editor4-last=de Juana|editor4-first=E.|editor5-last=Kirwan|editor5-first=G.M.}}</ref> These subspecies are [[Genetics|genetically]] distinct despite a similar [[phenotype]]. Different [[Habitat|habitats]] allow to recognize them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Genetic distinctiveness of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from the Galápagos Islands compared to continental North America|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322026100_Genetic_distinctiveness_of_brown_pelicans_Pelecanus_occidentalis_from_the_Galapagos_Islands_compared_to_continental_North_America|url-status=live|website=researchgate}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/SpeciesStatusList/5YR/20070207_5YR_BRPE.pdf|title=Listed Distinct Population Segment of the
+Five [[subspecies]] of the brown pelican are recognized.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrFFAAAAYAAJ|title=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Birds I|last1=Grzimek|first1=Bernhard|last2=Schlager|first2=Neil|date=2003|publisher=Gale|isbn=978-0-7876-5784-0|pages=231|language=en}}</ref><ref name="hbw2">{{cite journal|url=http://www.hbw.com/species/brown-pelican-pelecanus-occidentalis|title=Brown Pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'')|last1=Turner|first1=Angela|year=2020|editor1-last=Elliott|editor1-first=A.|editor2-last=Christie|editor2-first=D.A.|journal=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive|publisher=Lynx Edicions|location=Barcelona|doi=10.2173/bow.brnpel.01 |access-date=August 18, 2017|url-access=subscription|editor3-last=Jutglar|editor3-first=F.|editor4-last=de Juana|editor4-first=E.|editor5-last=Kirwan|editor5-first=G.M.}}</ref> At least some of these subspecies are [[Genetics|genetically]] distinct despite similar [[phenotype]]s. The subspecies differ from one another in size, coloration of the throat pouch (among other bare parts) in breeding condition, and/or certain breeding plumage details, as well as geographic range.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Genetic distinctiveness of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from the Galápagos Islands compared to continental North America|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322026100|website=researchgate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc1039.pdf|title=Listed Distinct Population Segment of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)|website=Fws.gov|access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref>
-Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)}}</ref> :
 {| class="wikitable "
 |-
 ! Image !! Subspecies !!  Distribution
 |-
-|[[File:Pelican 4995.jpg|120px]]||  ''[[Pelecanus occidentalis californicus|P. o.&nbsp;californicus]]'' <ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis californicus|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174688#null|url-status=live|website=itis.gov}}</ref>&nbsp;<small>([[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1884)</small> || This [[subspecies]] breeds on the [[Pacific coast]] of [[California]] and [[Baja California]], and south to [[Jalisco]]. Its non-breeding range extends north along the Pacific coast to [[British Columbia]], and south to [[Guatemala]]. It is rarely found in [[El Salvador]].
+|[[File:Pelican 4995.jpg|120px]]||  ''P. o.&nbsp;californicus''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pelecanus occidentalis californicus |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174688#null |website=itis.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016045626/http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174688 |archive-date=2011-10-16 }}</ref>&nbsp;<small>([[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1884)</small> || This subspecies breeds on the [[Pacific coast]] of [[California]] and [[Baja California]], and south to [[Jalisco]]. Its non-breeding range extends north along the Pacific coast to [[British Columbia]], and south to [[Guatemala]]. It is rarely found in [[El Salvador]].
 |-
-|[[File:Waiting - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg|120px]]|| ''[[Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis|P. o.&nbsp;carolinensis]]''&nbsp;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174687#null|url-status=live|website=itis.gov}}</ref> <small>([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789)</small> || This [[subspecies]] breeds in the [[eastern United States]] from [[Maryland]] south along the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], Gulf, and [[Caribbean region of Colombia|Caribbean coasts]] and south to [[Honduras]] and its Pacific coasts, [[Costa Rica]], and [[Panama]]. Its non-breeding range is from southern [[New York (state)|New York]] to [[Venezuela]].
+|[[File:Waiting - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg|120px]]|| ''P. o.&nbsp;carolinensis''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174687#null|website=itis.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016045632/http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174687 |archive-date=2011-10-16 }}</ref> <small>([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789)</small> || This subspecies breeds in the [[eastern United States]] from [[Maryland]] south along the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], Gulf, and [[Caribbean region of Colombia|Caribbean coasts]] and south to [[Honduras]] and its Pacific coasts, [[Costa Rica]], and [[Panama]]. Its non-breeding range is from southern [[New York (state)|New York]] to [[Venezuela]].
 |-
-|[[File:Pelícanos.jpg|120px]]|| ''P. o.&nbsp;occidentalis'' <ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174686#null|url-status=live|website=itis.gov}}</ref>[[Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis|&nbsp;]]<small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)</small> ||  This [[subspecies]] breeds in the [[Greater Antilles|Greater]] and [[Lesser Antilles|Lesser]] [[Antilles]], the [[The Bahamas|Bahamas]], and along the [[Caribbean]] coast of the [[West Indies]], [[Colombia]], and [[Venezuela]], up to [[Trinidad and Tobago]].
+|[[File:Pelícanos.jpg|120px]]|| ''P. o.&nbsp;occidentalis''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174686#null|website=itis.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016045637/http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174686 |archive-date=2011-10-16 }}</ref>[[Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis|&nbsp;]]<small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)</small> ||  This subspecies breeds in the [[Greater Antilles|Greater]] and [[Lesser Antilles|Lesser]] [[Antilles]], the [[The Bahamas|Bahamas]], and along the [[Caribbean]] coast of the [[West Indies]], [[Colombia]], and [[Venezuela]], up to [[Trinidad and Tobago]].
 |-
-|[[File:Pelikane Santa Elena Province Ecuador49.jpg|120px]]|| ''[[Pelecanus occidentalis murphyi|P. o.&nbsp;murphyi]]'' <ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis murphyi|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824905#|url-status=live|website=itis.gov}}</ref>&nbsp;<small>([[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1945)</small> ||  This [[subspecies]] is found from western [[Colombia]] to [[Ecuador]], and is a non-breeding visitor to northern [[Peru]].
+|[[File:Pelikane Santa Elena Province Ecuador49.jpg|120px]]|| ''P. o.&nbsp;murphyi''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis murphyi|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824905#|website=itis.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016045618/http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824905 |archive-date=2011-10-16 }}</ref>&nbsp;<small>([[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1945)</small> ||  This subspecies is found from western [[Colombia]] to [[Ecuador]], and is a non-breeding visitor to northern [[Peru]].
 |-
-|[[File:Pelícano pardo de las Galápagos (Pelecanus occidentalis urinator), Las Bachas, isla Santa Cruz, islas Galápagos, Ecuador, 2015-07-23, DD 28.jpg|120px]]|| [[Pelecanus occidentalis urinator|''P. o.&nbsp;urinator'']] <ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis urinator|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824906#null|url-status=live|website=itis.gov}}</ref>[[Pelecanus occidentalis urinator|&nbsp;]]<small>([[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1945)</small> ||  This [[subspecies]] is found on the [[Galápagos Islands|Galapagos Islands]].
+|[[File:Pelícano pardo de las Galápagos (Pelecanus occidentalis urinator), Las Bachas, isla Santa Cruz, islas Galápagos, Ecuador, 2015-07-23, DD 28.jpg|120px]]|| ''P. o.&nbsp;urinator''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pelecanus occidentalis urinator|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824906#null|website=itis.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016045622/http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824906 |archive-date=2011-10-16 }}</ref>[[Pelecanus occidentalis urinator|&nbsp;]]<small>([[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1945)</small> ||  This subspecies is found on the [[Galápagos Islands|Galapagos Islands]].
 |-
 |}
-The brown pelican is part of a clade that includes the [[Peruvian pelican]] (''P. thagus'') and the [[American white pelican]] (''P. erythrorhynchos'').<ref name="hbw2" /> The Peruvian pelican was previously treated as a subspecies of the brown pelican, but is now considered a separate species on the basis of its much greater size (around double the weight of the brown pelican), differences in bill color and plumage, and a lack of [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] between the forms despite a large range overlap.<ref name=":02" /> In contrast, [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] between brown and white pelicans is possible.<ref name=":3" />
+The brown pelican is part of a clade that includes the [[Peruvian pelican]] (''P. thagus'') and [[American white pelican]] (''P. erythrorhynchos''); brown and Peruvian pelicans are sister taxa, with American white pelican a more distant relative.<ref name="hbw2" /> The Peruvian pelican was previously considered a subspecies of the brown pelican, but is now considered a separate species on the basis of its much greater size (around double the weight of the brown pelican), differences in bill color and plumage, and a lack of evidence of [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] between the forms where their ranges approach and overlap.<ref name=":02" /> (In captivity, the brown pelican is known to have hybridized with both the American white pelican and the more distantly related [[great white pelican]].<ref name=":3" />)
-In 1932, [[James L. Peters]] separated the American white pelican and the brown pelican (including the Peruvian pelican) into monospecific [[subgenera]]. This separation was also supported by [[Jean Dorst]] and Raoul J. Mougin in 1979. The [[spot-billed pelican]] and the [[pink-backed pelican]] were considered to be [[sister species]] by Andrew Elliott in 1992 and [[Joseph Bryan Nelson|Joseph B. Nelson]] in 2005, and the [[Divergent evolution in animals|divergence]] between the brown and the Peruvian pelicans was found to be the most in the pelican family. In 1993, [[Paul Johnsgard]] hypothesized that the pelicans derived from a south Asian or African ancestor, and spread through northern Asia and Australia before finally coming to North America. This hypothesis would imply that, unless the brown pelican and the American white pelican resulted from multiple invasions of North America, they would be sister taxa. However, trees derived from genetic data disagree. In 1990, [[Charles Sibley]] and [[Jon E. Ahlquist|John E. Ahlquist]]'s [[UPGMA|Unweighted&nbsp;Pair&nbsp;Group&nbsp;Method with&nbsp;Arithmetic Mean]] (UPGMA) tree based on [[DNA–DNA hybridization]] data found that the American white pelican, the pink-backed pelican, the [[great white pelican]], and the [[Australian pelican]] were sister species, and the brown pelican was the most divergent of all.<ref name=":02" />
+In 1932, [[James L. Peters]] divided ''Pelecanus'' into three subgenera, placing brown pelican (including Peruvian pelican) in a monospecific ''Leptopelicanus'', American white pelican in a monospecific ''Cyrtopelicanus'', and all the rest in the subgenus ''Pelecanus'', a treatment which was also followed by [[Jean Dorst]] and Raoul J. Mougin in 1979. Andrew Elliott in 1992, and [[Joseph Bryan Nelson|Joseph B. Nelson]] in 2005, considered the deepest division among pelicans to lie between brown (plus Peruvian) pelican on the one hand, and the white-plumaged pelicans on the other (among which the large ground-nesting American white, [[Australian pelican|Australian]], great white, and [[Dalmatian pelican|Dalmatian]] pelicans were thought to form a clade, and the smaller tree-nesting [[pink-backed pelican|pink-backed]] and [[spot-billed pelican|spot-billed]] pelicans were likewise considered sister taxa). In 1993, [[Paul Johnsgard]] hypothesized that the Americas were colonized relatively late in pelican evolution, with the family originating in Africa or South Asia; however, he later supported the prevailing view that brown (with Peruvian) was the most divergent pelican (and considered American white and great white pelicans to be close relatives, implying two independent dispersals of pelicans into the Americas, with that of the ancestor of brown and Peruvian pelicans occurring early on). [[Charles Sibley|Sibley]] and [[Jon E. Ahlquist|Ahlquist]]'s [[DNA-DNA hybridization]] studies and [[UPGMA]] tree published in 1990 supported brown pelican as sister to a clade comprising all the white-plumaged pelicans analyzed, including American white pelican (although the relationships among the latter group differed).<ref name=":02" />
+With better genetic data and more modern methods, a new phylogenetic hypothesis of pelican relationships has arisen, which contrasts with the traditional view of brown and Peruvian being the most divergent pelicans based on their distinctive plumage and behavior (and early molecular data). Rather than the brown-plumaged pelicans and white-plumaged pelicans forming two reciprocally monophyletic groups, the American white pelican is sister to brown and Peruvian pelicans, the three together forming an exclusively New World pelican clade. (Among the other pelicans, pink-backed, Dalmatian, and spot-billed pelicans are close relatives, together sister to Australian pelican. Great white pelican has no particularly close relatives; while it may be sister to the previous four, this relationship had low statistical support.)<ref name=":02" />
 ==Description==
 [[File:Brown Pelican open mouth.JPG|thumb|Brown pelican showing throat pouch]]
-The brown pelican is the smallest of the eight extant pelican species, but is often one of the larger seabirds in their range nonetheless.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnYMX70y1oAC&pg=PA23|title=A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies|last=Bond|first=James|date=1999|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-00210-8|pages=23–24|language=en}}</ref><ref>Daniels, R. C., White, T. W., & Chapman, K. K. (1993). ''Sea-level rise: destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina''. Environmental management, 17(3), 373-385.</ref> It measures {{convert|1|to|1.52|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} in length and has a [[wingspan]] of {{convert|2.03|to|2.28|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="hbw2" /> The weight of adults can range from {{convert|2|to|5|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, about half the weight of the other pelicans found in the Americas, the Peruvian and American white pelicans. The average weight in Florida of 47 females was {{convert|3.17|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, while that of 56 males was {{convert|3.7|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name=CRC2>{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |edition=2nd |editor-first=John B. Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4200-6444-5}}</ref><ref>Schreiber, R. W., Schreiber, E. A., Anderson, D. W., & Bradley, D. W. (1989). ''[https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS402.pdf Plumages and molts of Brown Pelicans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020021046/http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS402.pdf |date=2016-10-20 }}''. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions to Science, (402).</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bartholomew | first1 = G. A. | last2 = Dawson | first2 = W. R. | year = 1954 | title = Temperature regulation in young pelicans, herons, and gulls | journal = Ecology | volume = 35 | issue = 4| pages = 466–472 | doi=10.2307/1931037| jstor = 1931037 }}</ref> Like all pelicans, it has a very long [[Beak|bill]], measuring {{convert|280|to|348|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name="hbw2" />
+The brown pelican is the smallest of the eight extant pelican species, but is often one of the larger seabirds in their range nonetheless.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnYMX70y1oAC&pg=PA23|title=A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies|last=Bond|first=James|date=1999|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-00210-8|pages=23–24|language=en}}</ref><ref>Daniels, R. C., White, T. W., & Chapman, K. K. (1993). ''Sea-level rise: destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina''. Environmental management, 17(3), 373-385.</ref> It measures {{convert|1|to|1.52|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} in length and has a [[wingspan]] of {{convert|2.03|to|2.28|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="hbw2" /> The weight of adults can range from {{convert|2|to|5|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, about half the weight of the other pelicans found in the Americas, the Peruvian and American white pelicans. The average weight in Florida of 47 females was {{convert|3.17|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, while that of 56 males was {{convert|3.7|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name=CRC2>{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |edition=2nd |editor-first=John B. Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4200-6444-5}}</ref><ref>Schreiber, R. W., Schreiber, E. A., Anderson, D. W., & Bradley, D. W. (1989). ''[https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS402.pdf Plumages and molts of Brown Pelicans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020021046/http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS402.pdf |date=2016-10-20 }}''. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions to Science, (402).</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bartholomew | first1 = G. A. | last2 = Dawson | first2 = W. R. | year = 1954 | title = Temperature regulation in young pelicans, herons, and gulls | journal = Ecology | volume = 35 | issue = 4| pages = 466–472 | doi=10.2307/1931037| jstor = 1931037 | bibcode = 1954Ecol...35..466B }}</ref> Like all pelicans, it has a very long [[Beak|bill]], measuring {{convert|280|to|348|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name="hbw2" />
-The [[nominate subspecies]] in its [[Glossary of bird terms#breeding plumage|breeding plumage]] has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The [[nape]] and neck are dark maroon&ndash;brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the [[gular pouch]], and the lower foreneck has a pale yellowish patch. The feathers at the center of the nape are elongated, forming short, deep chestnut [[Crest (feathers)|crest feathers]]. It has a silvery gray <dfn>[[Glossary of bird terms#mantle|mantle]],</dfn>&nbsp;<dfn>[[Glossary of bird terms#scapulars|scapulars]]</dfn>, and [[Covert feather#Wing coverts|upperwing coverts]] (feathers on the upper side of the wings), with a brownish tinge. The lesser [[Covert feather|coverts]] have dark bases, which gives the leading edge of the wing a streaky appearance. The [[Covert feather#Tail coverts|uppertail coverts]] (feathers above the tail) are silvery white at the center, forming pale streaks. The median (between the greater and the lesser coverts), [[Primary feather|primary]] (connected to the [[Manus (anatomy)|distal forelimb]]), [[Secondary feathers|secondary]] (connected to the [[ulna]]), and greater coverts (feathers of the outermost, largest, row of upperwing coverts) are blackish, with the primaries having white shafts and the secondaries having variable silver-gray fringes. The [[tertials]] (feathers arising in the brachial region) are silver-gray with a brownish tinge.<ref name="hbw2" /> The underwing has grayish-brown [[remiges]] with white shafts to the outer primary feathers. The [[wiktionary:axillary#English|axillaries]] and covert feathers are dark, with a broad, silver&ndash;gray central area. The tail is dark gray with a variable silvery cast. The lower mandible is blackish, with a greenish-black gular pouch<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9s9OAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA266|title=Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean|date=1860|pages=266|language=en}}</ref> at the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llBcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|title=Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine |edition=E-Book|last1=Miller|first1=R. Eric|last2=Fowler|first2=Murray E.|date=2014|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1-4557-7399-2|volume=Volume 8 |page=96|language=en}}</ref> The breast and belly are dark,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIThorxtoU4C&pg=PA36|title=Florida's Birds: A Field Guide and Reference|last1=Maehr|first1=David S.|last2=II|first2=Herbert W. Kale|date=2005|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-335-6|location=[[Florida]]|pages=36|language=en}}</ref> and the legs and feet black.<ref name=":11" /> It has a grayish white bill tinged with brown and intermixed with pale carmine spots.<ref name=":11" /> The crest is short and pale reddish-brown in color. The back, rump, and tail are streaked with gray and dark brown, sometimes with a rusty hue.<ref name=":11" /> The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller.<ref name="hbw2" /> It is exceptionally buoyant due to the internal air sacks beneath its skin and in its bones. It is as graceful in the air as it is clumsy on land.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GATjAAAAMAAJ|title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia : Knowledge in depth|last1=Editors|first1=Britannica|last2=Inc|first2=Encyclopaedia Britannica|date=2003|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|isbn=978-0-85229-961-6|pages=26|language=en}}</ref>
+The [[nominate subspecies]] in its [[Glossary of bird terms#breeding plumage|breeding plumage]] has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The [[nape]] and neck are dark maroon&ndash;brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the [[gular pouch]], and the lower foreneck has a pale yellowish patch. The feathers at the center of the nape are elongated, forming short, deep chestnut [[Crest (feathers)|crest feathers]]. It has a silvery gray <dfn>[[Glossary of bird terms#mantle|mantle]],</dfn>&nbsp;<dfn>[[Glossary of bird terms#scapulars|scapulars]]</dfn>, and [[Covert feather#Wing coverts|upperwing coverts]] (feathers on the upper side of the wings), with a brownish tinge. The lesser [[Covert feather|coverts]] have dark bases, which gives the leading edge of the wing a streaky appearance. The [[Covert feather#Tail coverts|uppertail coverts]] (feathers above the tail) are silvery white at the center, forming pale streaks. The median (between the greater and the lesser coverts), [[Primary feather|primary]] (connected to the [[Manus (anatomy)|distal forelimb]]), [[Secondary feathers|secondary]] (connected to the [[ulna]]), and greater coverts (feathers of the outermost, largest, row of upperwing coverts) are blackish, with the primaries having white shafts and the secondaries having variable silver-gray fringes. The [[tertials]] (feathers arising in the brachial region) are silver-gray with a brownish tinge.<ref name="hbw2" /> The underwing has grayish-brown [[remiges]] with white shafts to the outer primary feathers. The [[wiktionary:axillary#English|axillaries]] and covert feathers are dark, with a broad, silver&ndash;gray central area. The tail is dark gray with a variable silvery cast. The lower mandible is blackish, with a greenish-black gular pouch<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9s9OAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA266|title=Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean|date=1860|pages=266|language=en}}</ref> at the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llBcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|title=Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine |edition=E-Book|last1=Miller|first1=R. Eric|last2=Fowler|first2=Murray E.|date=2014|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1-4557-7399-2|volume=8 |page=96|language=en}}</ref> The breast and belly are dark,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIThorxtoU4C&pg=PA36|title=Florida's Birds: A Field Guide and Reference|last1=Maehr|first1=David S.|last2=II|first2=Herbert W. Kale|date=2005|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-335-6|location=[[Florida]]|pages=36|language=en}}</ref> and the legs and feet black.<ref name=":11" /> It has a grayish white bill tinged with brown and intermixed with pale carmine spots.<ref name=":11" /> The crest is short and pale reddish-brown in color. The back, rump, and tail are streaked with gray and dark brown, sometimes with a rusty hue.<ref name=":11" /> The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller.<ref name="hbw2" /> It is exceptionally buoyant due to the internal air sacks beneath its skin and in its bones. It is as graceful in the air as it is clumsy on land.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GATjAAAAMAAJ|title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia : Knowledge in depth|date=2003|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|isbn=978-0-85229-961-6|pages=26|language=en}}</ref>
 The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck, and the pre-breeding adult has a creamy yellow head. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the non-breeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray. It has pale blue to yellowish white [[Iris (anatomy)|irides]] which become brown during the breeding season. During courtship, the bill becomes pinkish red to pale orange, redder at the tip, and the pouch is blackish. Later in the breeding season the bill becomes pale ash-gray over most of the [[Maxilla|upper jaw]] and the basal third of the mandible.<ref name="hbw2" />
@@ Line 63: / Line 68: @@
 [[File:Brown pelican in flight (Bodega Bay).jpg|thumb|Adult in flight, [[Bodega Bay]], [[California]]]]
 [[File:Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis) immature in flight.jpg|thumb|immature ''P. o. carolinensis'', [[Panama]]]]
-The brown pelican lives on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts in the Americas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsrV3uOZKN4C&pg=PA26|title=The Encyclopedia of Birds|last=Anonymous|date=2005|publisher=Parragon|isbn=978-1-4054-9851-7|pages=26|language=en}}</ref> On the Atlantic Coast, it is found from the [[New Jersey]] coast to the mouth of the [[Amazon River]].<ref name=":1" /> Along the [[Pacific coast|Pacific Coast]], it is found from [[British Columbia]] to south-central Chile, including the [[Galapagos Islands]].<ref name=":1">{{cite report|url=https://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2009/pdf/brown_pelicanfactsheet09.pdf|title=Brown Pelican ''Pelecanus occidentalis''|date=2009|publisher=[[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]]|access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="Jaramillo2009">{{cite journal|author=Jaramillo|first=A.|year=2009|title=Humboldt Current seabirding in Chile|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317097666|journal=Neotropical Birding|volume=4|pages=27–39}}</ref> After nesting, North American birds [[bird migration|move]] in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhJwsTkYkoIC&pg=PT68|title=Lives of North American Birds|last=Kaufman|first=Kenn|date=2001|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-15988-8|pages=40|language=en}}</ref> In the non-breeding season, it is found as far north as Canada.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is a rare and irregular visitor south of the [[Piura Region|Piura]] in Peru, where generally it is replaced by the Peruvian pelican, and can occur as a non-breeding visitor south at least to [[Ica Region|Ica]] during [[El Niño]] years.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Schulenberg, T.S. |author2=D.S. Stotz |author3=D.F. Lane |author4=J.P. P'Neill |author5=T.A. Parker III  |year=2007 |title=Birds of Peru | publisher=Christopher Helm | pages=54–55 | isbn=978-0-7136-8673-9}}</ref> Small numbers of brown pelicans have been recorded from [[Arica]] in far northern [[Chile]].<ref name="Jaramillo2009" /> It is fairly common along the coast of California, [[South Carolina]], [[North Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], the West Indies, and many Caribbean islands as far south as [[Guyana]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDc0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA38|title=Port of the Americas, Municipalities of Guayanilla-Penuelas and Ponce: Environmental Impact Statement|last=Anonymous|date=2004|publisher=United States Army Corps of Engineers|pages=38|language=en}}</ref> Along the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]], it inhabits [[Alabama]], [[Texas]], [[Florida]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]], and Mexico.<ref name=":1" />
+The brown pelican lives on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts in the Americas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsrV3uOZKN4C&pg=PA26|title=The Encyclopedia of Birds|last=Anonymous|date=2005|publisher=Parragon|isbn=978-1-4054-9851-7|pages=26|language=en}}</ref> On the Atlantic Coast, it is found from the [[New Jersey]] coast to the mouth of the [[Amazon River]].<ref name=":1" /> Along the [[Pacific coast|Pacific Coast]], it is found from [[British Columbia]] to  northern Peru, including the [[Galapagos Islands]].<ref name=":1">{{cite report|url=https://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2009/pdf/brown_pelicanfactsheet09.pdf|title=Brown Pelican ''Pelecanus occidentalis''|date=2009|publisher=[[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]]|access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="Jaramillo2009">{{cite journal|author=Jaramillo|first=A.|year=2009|title=Humboldt Current seabirding in Chile|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317097666|journal=Neotropical Birding|volume=4|pages=27–39}}</ref> After nesting, North American birds [[bird migration|move]] in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhJwsTkYkoIC&pg=PT68|title=Lives of North American Birds|last=Kaufman|first=Kenn|date=2001|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-15988-8|pages=40|language=en}}</ref> In the non-breeding season, it is found as far north as Canada.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is a rare and irregular visitor south of [[Piura Region|Piura]] in Peru, where generally it is replaced by the Peruvian pelican, and can occur as a non-breeding visitor south at least to [[Ica Region|Ica]] during [[El Niño]] years.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Schulenberg, T.S. |author2=D.S. Stotz |author3=D.F. Lane |author4=J.P. P'Neill |author5=T.A. Parker III  |year=2007 |title=Birds of Peru | publisher=Christopher Helm | pages=54–55 | isbn=978-0-7136-8673-9}}</ref> Small numbers of brown pelicans have been recorded from [[Arica]] in far northern [[Chile]].<ref name="Jaramillo2009" /> It is fairly common along the coast of California, [[South Carolina]], [[North Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], the West Indies, and many Caribbean islands as far south as [[Guyana]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDc0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA38|title=Port of the Americas, Municipalities of Guayanilla-Penuelas and Ponce: Environmental Impact Statement|last=Anonymous|date=2004|publisher=United States Army Corps of Engineers|pages=38|language=en}}</ref> Along the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]], it inhabits [[Alabama]], [[Texas]], [[Florida]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]], and Mexico.<ref name=":1" />
 The brown pelican is a strictly marine species, primarily inhabiting marine [[subtidal]], warm [[estuarine]], and marine [[pelagic]] waters.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aAgzAQAAMAAJ&pg=SL1-PA25|title=Imperial Irrigation District Water Conservation and Transfer Project and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan: Environmental Impact Statement|last=Bureau of Reclamation|first=United States|date=2002|publisher=Northwestern University|pages=25–26|language=en}}</ref> It is also found in [[mangrove swamps]], and prefers shallow waters, especially near salty bays and beaches.<ref name=":2" /> It avoids the open sea,<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> seldom venturing more than 20 miles from the coast.<ref name=":1" /> Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. Its range may also overlap with the Peruvian pelican in some areas along the [[Pacific coast]] of [[South America]]. It roosts on rocks, water, rocky cliffs, piers, jetties, sand beaches, and mudflats.<ref name=":2" />
 === Migration ===
-Most brown pelican populations are [[Resident (animal)|resident]] (nonmigratory) and [[Biological dispersal|dispersive]] (species moving from its birth site to its breeding site, or its breeding site to another breeding site), although some migration is observed, especially in the northern areas of its range, but these movements are often erratic, depending on local conditions. Southwards, they are [[wiktionary:vagrant|vagrants]] (found outside its usual range) in [[Tierra del Fuego]]. They have been recorded off the eastern coast of [[Brazil]], in [[Alagoas]]. Rare inland vagrants, generally caused by hurricanes or El Niño phenomena, have been reported from the [[Andean natural region|Colombian Andes]]. They were first recorded in&nbsp;July 2009 at the [[Interandean Valles|Interandean Valley]]&nbsp;where they remained for at least 161 days. There are four records far inland in [[Amazônia Legal]] along the [[Amazon River]] and its tributaries.<ref name="hbw2" />
+Most brown pelican populations are [[Resident (animal)|resident]] (nonmigratory) and [[Biological dispersal|dispersive]] (species moving from its birth site to its breeding site, or its breeding site to another breeding site). Some migration is observed, especially in the northern parts of the species's range, but these movements are often erratic, depending on local conditions.
+While usually restricted to coastal regions, brown pelicans occasionally wander inland, and there are records of [[vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] individuals across much of the interior of North America. The species also occasionally wanders along the coasts of the Americas outside its normal range, with vagrants reported as far north as [[Southeast Alaska]] and [[Newfoundland]], as far south as central [[Chile]] (well into the range of the closely related Peruvian pelican), and as far east in South America as [[Alagoas]]. Rare inland vagrants, generally caused by hurricanes or El Niño phenomena, have been reported from the [[Andean natural region|Colombian Andes]]. They were first recorded in July 2009 in the [[Interandean Valles|Interandean Valley]], where they remained for at least 161 days. There are four records far inland in [[Amazônia Legal]], along the [[Amazon River]] and its tributaries.<ref name="hbw2" />
 ==Behavior==
-The brown pelican is a very gregarious bird; it lives in flocks of both sexes throughout the year.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErdJAAAAYAAJ|title=The Audubon Bulletin|last=Anonymous|date=1958|publisher=Illinois Audubon Society.|pages=208–209|language=en}}</ref> In level flight, brown pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders and their bills resting on their folded necks.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://repositories.tdl.org/tamug-ir/handle/1969.3/25052|title=Minding the Coast: It's Everybody's Business : Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference of the Coastal Society, Addendum Volume, 12–15 July, 1998, the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia|last=Lynch|first=Maurice P.|date=1998|publisher=Coastal Society|pages=21|language=en}}</ref> They may fly in a [[V formation]], but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOYJAQAAMAAJ|title=Encyclopedia of North American Birds|last=Hall|first=Derek|date=2004|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|isbn=978-1-59223-190-4|pages=21|language=en}}</ref> To exclude water from the nasal passage, they have narrower internal regions of the nostrils.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Richardson|first=F.|date=1939|title=Functional Aspects of the Pneumatic System of the California Brown Pelican|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v041n01/p0013-p0017.pdf|journal=The Condor|volume=41|issue=1|pages=13–17|doi=10.2307/1364267|jstor=1364267}}</ref>
+The brown pelican is a very gregarious bird; it lives in flocks of both sexes throughout the year.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErdJAAAAYAAJ|title=The Audubon Bulletin|last=Anonymous|date=1958|publisher=Illinois Audubon Society.|pages=208–209|language=en}}</ref> In level flight, brown pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders and their bills resting on their folded necks.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://repositories.tdl.org/tamug-ir/handle/1969.3/25052|title=Minding the Coast: It's Everybody's Business : Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference of the Coastal Society, Addendum Volume, 12–15 July, 1998, the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia|last=Lynch|first=Maurice P.|date=1998|publisher=Coastal Society|pages=21|language=en|access-date=2017-09-26|archive-date=2017-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926100423/https://repositories.tdl.org/tamug-ir/handle/1969.3/25052|url-status=dead}}</ref> They may fly in a [[V formation]], but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOYJAQAAMAAJ|title=Encyclopedia of North American Birds|last=Hall|first=Derek|date=2004|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|isbn=978-1-59223-190-4|pages=21|language=en}}</ref> To exclude water from the nasal passage, they have narrower internal regions of the nostrils.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Richardson|first=F.|date=1939|title=Functional Aspects of the Pneumatic System of the California Brown Pelican|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v041n01/p0013-p0017.pdf|journal=The Condor|volume=41|issue=1|pages=13–17|doi=10.2307/1364267|jstor=1364267}}</ref>
 === Feeding ===
 [[File:Pelican-dive-3.jpg|thumb|Diving]]
+[[File:Pelican half-submerged after a dive.jpg|thumb|California brown pelican half-submerged after a dive]]
-The brown pelican is a [[piscivore]], primarily feeding on fish.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCIWAQAAIAAJ|title=Final report, California seabird ecology study|last1=Region|first1=United States Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS|last2=Sciences|first2=University of California, Santa Cruz Institute of Marine|last3=Observatory|first3=Point Reyes Bird|last4=Division|first4=Science Applications International Corporation Applied Environmental Science|date=1987|publisher=Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California |page=98|language=en}}</ref>  [[Menhaden]] may account for 90% of its diet,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RhE0AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA4|title=New Orleans to Venice Hurricane Protection and Barrier Features: Environmental Impact Statement|last1=Michot|first1=T. C.|last2=Bettinger|first2=K. M.|date=1975|pages=4|language=en}}</ref> and the [[anchovy]] supply is particularly important to the brown pelican's nesting success.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Gress|first2=Franklin|last3=Mais|first3=Kenneth F.|last4=Kelly|first4=Paul R.|date=1980|title=Brown Pelicans as Anchovy Stock Indicators and their Relationships to Commercial Fishing|url=http://calcofi.org/publications/calcofireports/v21/Vol_21_Anderson_etal.pdf|journal=CalCOFI Reports|volume=21|pages=54–61}}</ref> Other fish preyed on with some regularity includes [[Congiopodidae|pigfish]], [[pinfish]], [[herring]], [[Sheepshead (Archosargus)|sheepshead]], [[silverside (fish)|silversides]], [[Mullet (fish)|mullets]], [[sardine]]s, and [[minnow]]s. Brown pelicans residing in Southern California rely especially heavily on [[Sardinops|pacific sardine]] as a major food source which can compose up to 26% of their diet, making them one of the top three predators of sardines in the area.<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal|last1=Kaplan|first1=IC|last2=Francis|first2=TB|last3=Punt|first3=AE|last4=Koehn|first4=LE|last5=Curchitser|first5=E|last6=Hurtado-Ferro|first6=F|last7=Johnson|first7=KF|last8=Lluch-Cota|first8=SE|last9=Sydeman|first9=WJ|last10=Essington|first10=TE|last11=Taylor|first11=N|date=2019-05-16|title=A multi-model approach to understanding the role of Pacific sardine in the California Current food web|url=https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v617-618/p307-321/|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|language=en|volume=617-618|pages=307–321|doi=10.3354/meps12504|issn=0171-8630|doi-access=free}}</ref> Non-fish prey includes [[crustacean]]s, especially [[prawn]]s,<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA486|title=Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon: Environmental Impact Statement |date=2010|pages=486|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycA1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA66|title=Casotte Landing LNG Project, Bayou Casotte Energy LLC: Environmental Impact Statement |date=2006|pages=4–66|language=en}}</ref> and it occasionally feeds on [[amphibian]]s and the eggs and nestlings of birds ([[egret]]s, [[common murre]]s and [[Cannibalism (zoology)|its own species]]).<ref>{{cite journal | author=Mora, M.A. | year=1989 | title=Predation by a Brown Pelican at a Mixed Species Heronry | journal=Condor | volume=91 | issue=3 | pages=742–743 | doi=10.2307/1368134 | jstor=1368134 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Horton, C.A. |author2=R.M. Suryan  |year=2012 |title=Brown Pelicans: A new disturbance source to breeding Common Murres in Oregon? | journal=Oregon Birds | volume=38 | pages=84–88|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255995589}}</ref>
+[[File:Flock of brown pelicans.jpg|thumb|Flock of California brown pelicans feeding in waters off San Diego, California]]
+The brown pelican is a [[piscivore]], primarily feeding on fish.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCIWAQAAIAAJ|title=Final report, California seabird ecology study|last1=Region|first1=United States Minerals Management Service Pacific OCS|last2=Sciences|first2=University of California, Santa Cruz Institute of Marine|last3=Observatory|first3=Point Reyes Bird|last4=Division|first4=Science Applications International Corporation Applied Environmental Science|date=1987|publisher=Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California |page=98|language=en}}</ref>  [[Menhaden]] may account for 90% of its diet,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RhE0AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA4|title=New Orleans to Venice Hurricane Protection and Barrier Features: Environmental Impact Statement|last1=Michot|first1=T. C.|last2=Bettinger|first2=K. M.|date=1975|pages=4|language=en}}</ref> and the [[anchovy]] supply is particularly important to the brown pelican's nesting success.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Gress|first2=Franklin|last3=Mais|first3=Kenneth F.|last4=Kelly|first4=Paul R.|date=1980|title=Brown Pelicans as Anchovy Stock Indicators and their Relationships to Commercial Fishing|url=https://calcofi.com/publications/calcofireports/v21/Vol_21_Anderson_etal.pdf|journal=CalCOFI Reports|volume=21|pages=54–61}}</ref> Other fish preyed on with some regularity includes [[Congiopodidae|pigfish]], [[pinfish]], [[herring]], [[Sheepshead (Archosargus)|sheepshead]], [[silverside (fish)|silversides]], [[Mullet (fish)|mullets]], [[sardine]]s, [[minnow]]s, and [[Fundulidae|topminnow]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Pelecanus_occidentalis%20-%20Brown%20Pelican.pdf|title=Pelecanus occidentalis (Brown Pelican) |website=Sta.uwi.edu|access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref> Brown pelicans residing in Southern California rely especially heavily on [[Sardinops|pacific sardine]] as a major food source which can compose up to 26% of their diet, making them one of the top three predators of sardines in the area.<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal|last1=Kaplan|first1=IC|last2=Francis|first2=TB|last3=Punt|first3=AE|last4=Koehn|first4=LE|last5=Curchitser|first5=E|last6=Hurtado-Ferro|first6=F|last7=Johnson|first7=KF|last8=Lluch-Cota|first8=SE|last9=Sydeman|first9=WJ|last10=Essington|first10=TE|last11=Taylor|first11=N|date=2019-05-16|title=A multi-model approach to understanding the role of Pacific sardine in the California Current food web|url=https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v617-618/p307-321/|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|language=en|volume=617-618|pages=307–321|doi=10.3354/meps12504|bibcode=2019MEPS..617..307K|issn=0171-8630|doi-access=free}}</ref> Non-fish prey includes [[crustacean]]s, especially [[prawn]]s, and it occasionally feeds on [[amphibian]]s and the eggs and nestlings of birds ([[egret]]s, [[common murre]]s and [[Cannibalism (zoology)|its own species]]).<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA486|title=Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon: Environmental Impact Statement |date=2010|pages=486|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycA1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA66|title=Casotte Landing LNG Project, Bayou Casotte Energy LLC: Environmental Impact Statement |date=2006|pages=4–66|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author=Mora, M.A. | year=1989 | title=Predation by a Brown Pelican at a Mixed Species Heronry | journal=Condor | volume=91 | issue=3 | pages=742–743 | doi=10.2307/1368134 | jstor=1368134 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Horton, C.A. |author2=R.M. Suryan  |year=2012 |title=Brown Pelicans: A new disturbance source to breeding Common Murres in Oregon? | journal=Oregon Birds | volume=38 | pages=84–88|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255995589}}</ref>
-As the brown pelican flies at a maximum height of {{convert|60|to|70|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} above the ocean, it can spot schools of fish while flying.<ref name=":13" /> When foraging, it dives bill-first like a [[kingfisher]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Dan A. Tallman|author2=David L. Swanson|author3=Jeffrey S. Palmer|title=Birds of South Dakota|date=2002|publisher=Northern State University Press|isbn=978-0-929918-06-8|page=11|edition=Hardcover}}</ref> often submerging completely below the surface momentarily as it snaps up prey.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aIAAQAAQBAJ|title=The Behavior of Texas Birds|last=Rylander|first=Kent|date=2010|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-77472-8|pages=28–29|language=en}}</ref> Besides its sister species, the Peruvian pelican, this is the only pelican to primarily forage via diving, all other extant pelican merely float on the waters' surface when foraging.<ref>Arnqvist, G. (1992). ''Brown pelican foraging success related to age and height of dive''. The Condor, 94(2), 521-522.</ref><ref>Zavalaga, C. B., Dell'Omo, G., Becciu, P., & Yoda, K. (2011). ''Patterns of GPS tracks suggest nocturnal foraging by incubating Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus)''. PloS one, 6(5), e19966.</ref> Upon surfacing, it spills the water from its throat pouch before swallowing its catch.<ref name=":14" /> Only the Peruvian pelican shares this active foraging style (although that species never dives from such a great height<ref name=Jaramillo2009/>), while other pelicans forage more inactively by scooping up corralled fish while swimming on the water surface. It is an occasional target of [[kleptoparasitism]] by other fish-eating birds such as [[gull]]s, [[skua]]s, and [[frigatebird]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm|title=Brown pelican|website=Smithsonian's National Zoological Park|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303181033/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm|archive-date=2008-03-03|access-date=2017-10-22}}</ref> They are capable of drinking saline water due to the high capacity of its salt glands to excrete salt.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schmidt-Nelsen|first1=K.|last2=Fange|first2=R.|date=1958|title=The function of the salt gland in the Brown Pelican|url=http://cescos.fau.edu/gawliklab/papers/Schmidt-NielsenKandRFange1958.pdf|journal=The Auk|volume=75|pages=282–289|doi=10.2307/4081974|jstor=4081974|access-date=2017-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023230659/http://cescos.fau.edu/gawliklab/papers/Schmidt-NielsenKandRFange1958.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
+As the brown pelican flies at a maximum height of {{convert|60|to|70|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} above the ocean, it can spot schools of fish while flying.<ref name=":13" /> When foraging, it dives bill-first like a [[kingfisher]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Dan A. Tallman|author2=David L. Swanson|author3=Jeffrey S. Palmer|title=Birds of South Dakota|date=2002|publisher=Northern State University Press|isbn=978-0-929918-06-8|page=11|edition=Hardcover}}</ref> often submerging completely below the surface momentarily as it snaps up prey.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aIAAQAAQBAJ|title=The Behavior of Texas Birds|last=Rylander|first=Kent|date=2010|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-77472-8|pages=28–29|language=en}}</ref> Besides its sister species, the Peruvian pelican, this is the only pelican to primarily forage via diving, all other extant pelican merely float on the waters' surface when foraging.<ref>Arnqvist, G. (1992). ''Brown pelican foraging success related to age and height of dive''. The Condor, 94(2), 521-522.</ref><ref>Zavalaga, C. B., Dell'Omo, G., Becciu, P., & Yoda, K. (2011). ''Patterns of GPS tracks suggest nocturnal foraging by incubating Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus)''. PloS one, 6(5), e19966.</ref> Upon surfacing, it spills the water from its throat pouch before swallowing its catch.<ref name=":14" /> Only the Peruvian pelican shares this active foraging style (although that species never dives from such a great height<ref name=Jaramillo2009/>), while other pelicans forage more inactively by scooping up corralled fish while swimming on the water surface. It is an occasional target of [[kleptoparasitism]] by other fish-eating birds such as [[gull]]s, [[skua]]s, and [[frigatebird]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm|title=Brown pelican|website=Smithsonian's National Zoological Park|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303181033/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm|archive-date=2008-03-03|access-date=2017-10-22}}</ref> They are capable of drinking saline water due to the high capacity of their salt glands to excrete salt.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schmidt-Nelsen|first1=K.|last2=Fange|first2=R.|date=1958|title=The function of the salt gland in the Brown Pelican|url=http://cescos.fau.edu/gawliklab/papers/Schmidt-NielsenKandRFange1958.pdf|journal=The Auk|volume=75|issue=3|pages=282–289|doi=10.2307/4081974|jstor=4081974|access-date=2017-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023230659/http://cescos.fau.edu/gawliklab/papers/Schmidt-NielsenKandRFange1958.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 ===Breeding===
-The brown pelican is a [[Monogamy|monogamous]] breeder within a breeding season, but does not [[Pair bond|pair for life]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-REZ4R8wBg4C&pg=PA99|title=Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean|last=Nellis|first=David W.|date=2001|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-191-8|pages=99|language=en}}</ref> Nesting season peaks during March and April.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Icw1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA67|title=East Harrison County Connector, Harrison County: Environmental Impact Statement|date=2003|pages=4–67|language=en}}</ref> The male chooses a nesting site and performs a display of head movements to attract a female.<ref name=":0" /> At the proposed nest site, major courtship displays such as head swaying, bowing, turning, and [[Upright posture|upright]] (standing on its legs without any support) are performed by both the sexes. They may also be accompanied by low ''raaa'' calls.<ref name=":16" />
+The brown pelican is a [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]] breeder within a breeding season, but does not [[Pair bond|pair for life]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-REZ4R8wBg4C&pg=PA99|title=Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean|last=Nellis|first=David W.|date=2001|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-191-8|pages=99|language=en}}</ref> Nesting season peaks during March and April.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Icw1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA67|title=East Harrison County Connector, Harrison County: Environmental Impact Statement|date=2003|pages=4–67|language=en}}</ref> The male chooses a nesting site and performs a display of head movements to attract a female.<ref name=":0" /> At the proposed nest site, major courtship displays such as head swaying, bowing, turning, and [[Upright posture|upright]] (standing on its legs without any support) are performed by both the sexes. They may also be accompanied by low ''raaa'' calls.<ref name=":16" />
-Once a pair forms a bond, overt communication between them is minimal. It is a colonial species, with some [[Colony (biology)|colonies]] maintained for many years. Probably owing to disturbance, [[tick infestation]], or alteration in food supply, colonies frequently shift.<ref name="hbw2" /> It nests in secluded area, often on islands, vegetated spots among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and in [[Mangrove|mangroves]],<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7UxSPd2XMAC&pg=PA130|title=Wildlife of Virginia and Maryland and Washington|last=Fergus|first=Charles|date=2003|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-2821-8|pages=130|language=en}}</ref> although sometimes on cliffs, and less often in bushes or small trees.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Nesting territories are clumped, as individual territories may be at a distance of just {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} from each other.<ref name=":16" /> They are usually built by the female from reeds, leaves, pebbles, and sticks,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZqJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA443|title=A Dictionary of Birds|last1=Campbell|first1=Bruce|last2=Lack|first2=Elizabeth|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4081-3839-7|pages=443|language=en}}</ref> and consist of feather-lined impressions protected with a {{convert|10|to|25|cm|abbr=on|in}} rim of soil and debris.<ref name=":3" /> They are usually found {{convert|3|to|10|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip|sigfig=1}} above the ground.<ref name=":4" /> Renesting may occur if eggs are lost from the nest early in the breeding season.<ref name=":16" />
+Once a pair forms a bond, overt communication between them is minimal. It is a colonial species, with some [[Colony (biology)|colonies]] maintained for many years. Probably owing to disturbance, [[tick infestation]], or alteration in food supply, colonies frequently shift.<ref name="hbw2" /> It nests in secluded area, often on islands, vegetated spots among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and in [[mangrove]]s,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7UxSPd2XMAC&pg=PA130|title=Wildlife of Virginia and Maryland and Washington|last=Fergus|first=Charles|date=2003|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-2821-8|pages=130|language=en}}</ref> although sometimes on cliffs, and less often in bushes or small trees.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Nesting territories are clumped, as individual territories may be at a distance of just {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} from each other.<ref name=":16" /> They are usually built by the female from reeds, leaves, pebbles, and sticks,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZqJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA443|title=A Dictionary of Birds|last1=Campbell|first1=Bruce|last2=Lack|first2=Elizabeth|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4081-3839-7|pages=443|language=en}}</ref> and consist of feather-lined impressions protected with a {{convert|10|to|25|cm|abbr=on|in}} rim of soil and debris.<ref name=":3" /> They are usually found {{convert|3|to|10|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip|sigfig=1}} above the ground.<ref name=":4" /> Renesting may occur if eggs are lost from the nest early in the breeding season.<ref name=":16" />
 There are usually two to three, or sometimes even four, oval eggs in a clutch, and only one brood is raised per year.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ80AQAAMAAJ&pg=SL1-PA1|title=Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Tactical Infrastructure, Rio Grande Valley Sector: Environmental Impact Statement|date=2007|pages=A–1|language=en}}</ref> The egg is chalky white,<ref name=":5" /> and can measure about {{convert|76|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|51|mm|in|abbr=on}} in width.<ref name=":4" /> [[Incubation period|Incubation]] takes 28 to 30 days with both sexes sharing duties, keeping the eggs warm by holding them on or under their webbed feet. It takes 28 to 30 days for the eggs to hatch,<ref name=":4" /> and about 63 days to [[fledge]].<ref name="hbw2" /> After that, the juvenile leave the nest and gather into small groups known as pods.<ref name=":4" /> The newly hatched chicks are pink and weigh about {{convert|60|g|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":7" /> Within 4 to 14 days, they turn gray or black.<ref name=":7" /> After that, they develop a coat of white, black or grayish down.<ref name=":7" /> Fledging success may be as high as 100% for the first hatched chick, 60% for the second chick, and just 6% for the third chick.<ref name=":16" />
@@ Line 94: / Line 103: @@
 === Predators and parasites ===
-[[File:Brown Pelican - Huntington Beach, CA.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|A Brown Pelican visits the Huntington Beach, CA pier.]]
+[[File:Brown Pelican - Huntington Beach, CA.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|A brown pelican visits the Huntington Beach, CA pier.]]
-Predation is occasional at colonies, and predators of eggs and young (usually small nestlings are threatened but also occasionally up to fledgling size depending on the size of the predator) can include [[gull]]s, [[Bird of prey|raptors]] (especially [[bald eagle]]s), [[American alligator|alligator]]s, [[vulture]]s, [[fish crow]]s, and [[corvid]]s.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Peleca_occide.htm|title=''Pelecanus occidentalis''|website=www.sms.si.edu|publisher=Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory|language=en|access-date=2017-09-29}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQ0AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA20|title=San Diego Harbor Deepening Project: Environmental Impact Statement|date=2003|volume=3|pages=21|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":18" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Keith|first2=James O.|date=1980-06-01|title=The human influence on seabird nesting success: Conservation implications|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=18|issue=1|pages=65–80|doi=10.1016/0006-3207(80)90067-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pinson|first1=D.|last2=Drummond|first2=H.|date=1993-02-01|title=Brown pelican siblicide and the prey-size hypothesis|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|language=en|volume=32|issue=2|pages=111–118|doi=10.1007/BF00164043}}</ref> Predation is likely reduced if the colony is on an island. Predation on adult brown pelicans is rarely reported, but cases where they have fallen prey to [[bald eagle]]s have been reported. Also, [[South American sea lion]]s and unidentified large [[shark]]s have been observed to prey on adult brown pelicans by seizing them from beneath while the birds are sitting on ocean waters.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/brnpel|title=Brown Pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis''), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.)|journal=The Birds of North America Online|last=Shields|first=Mark|date=2014|language=en|doi=10.2173/bna.609|access-date=2017-09-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7766371#page/523/mode/1up|title=Habits and economic relations of the guano birds of Peru|volume=v. 56 1920|last=Coker|first=Robert Ervin|date=1919|publisher=Washington, D.C. : United States National Museum|pages=449–511|language=en|issue=56}}</ref> The invasive [[Red fire ant|red imported fire ant]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RRDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA475|title=The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People|last1=Todd|first1=David A.|last2=Ogren|first2=Jonathan|last3=Crosby|first3=Clare|date=2016|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-62349-372-1|pages=475|language=en}}</ref> is known to prey on hatchlings.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-REZ4R8wBg4C&pg=PA118|title=Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean|last=Nellis|first=David W.|date=2001|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-191-8|pages=118|language=en}}</ref> Like all pelicans, brown pelicans are highly sensitive to disturbances by humans (including tourists or fishermen) at their nests, and may even abandon their nests.<ref name="National">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080303181033/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm Brown Pelican]. Smithsonian's National Zoological Park</ref> Due to their size, non-nesting adults are rarely predated.<ref name=":3" /> Brown pelicans have several parasitic worms such as ''Petagiger'', ''Echinochasmus'', ''Phagicola longus'', ''Mesostephanus appendiculatoides'', ''Contracaecum multipapillatum'', and ''Contracaecum bioccai'', from its prey diet of [[black mullet]]s, [[white mullet]]s, and other fish species.<ref name=":15" />
+Predation is occasional at colonies, and predators of eggs and young (usually small nestlings are threatened but also occasionally up to fledgling size depending on the size of the predator) can include [[gull]]s, [[Bird of prey|raptors]] (especially [[bald eagle]]s), [[Ctenosaura pectinata|spiny-tailed iguana]]s,<ref name="animaldiversity.org">{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pelecanus_occidentalis/|title=Pelecanus occidentalis (brown pelican)|first=Victoria|last=Scott|website=Animaldiversity.org|access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref> [[American alligator|alligator]]s, [[vulture]]s, [[feral cat]]s, [[feral dog]]s, [[raccoon]]s,<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/> [[fish crow]]s, and [[corvid]]s.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Peleca_occide.htm|title=''Pelecanus occidentalis''|website=www.sms.si.edu|publisher=Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory|language=en|access-date=2017-09-29|archive-date=2017-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614044342/http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Peleca_occide.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQ0AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA20|title=San Diego Harbor Deepening Project: Environmental Impact Statement|date=2003|volume=3|pages=21|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":18" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Keith|first2=James O.|date=1980-06-01|title=The human influence on seabird nesting success: Conservation implications|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=18|issue=1|pages=65–80|doi=10.1016/0006-3207(80)90067-1|bibcode=1980BCons..18...65A }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pinson|first1=D.|last2=Drummond|first2=H.|date=1993-02-01|title=Brown pelican siblicide and the prey-size hypothesis|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|language=en|volume=32|issue=2|pages=111–118|doi=10.1007/BF00164043|bibcode=1993BEcoS..32..111P |s2cid=22876247}}</ref> Predation is likely reduced if the colony is on an island. Although it is rare, [[bobcat]]s have been documented eating both the offspring and injured adults.<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/> Predation on adult brown pelicans is rarely reported, but cases where they have fallen prey to [[bald eagle]]s have been reported. Also, [[South American sea lion]]s and unidentified large [[shark]]s have been observed to prey on adult brown pelicans by seizing them from beneath while the birds are sitting on ocean waters.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/brnpel|title=Brown Pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis''), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.)|journal=The Birds of North America Online|last=Shields|first=Mark|date=2014|language=en|doi=10.2173/bna.609|access-date=2017-09-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7766371#page/523/mode/1up|title=Habits and economic relations of the guano birds of Peru|volume=v. 56 1920|last=Coker|first=Robert Ervin|date=1919|publisher=Washington, D.C. : United States National Museum|pages=449–511|language=en|issue=56}}</ref> In California, adult brown pelicans have become a common prey item for [[North American river otters]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dietrich |first1=Daniel |title=River Otters With a New Taste for Pelican Are Changing a California Park's Ecology |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/river-otters-new-taste-pelican-are-changing-california-parks-ecology |website=National Audubon Society|date=15 December 2023 }}</ref>
+The invasive [[Red fire ant|red imported fire ant]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RRDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA475|title=The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People|last1=Todd|first1=David A.|last2=Ogren|first2=Jonathan|last3=Crosby|first3=Clare|date=2016|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-62349-372-1|pages=475|language=en}}</ref> is known to prey on hatchlings.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-REZ4R8wBg4C&pg=PA118|title=Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean|last=Nellis|first=David W.|date=2001|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-191-8|pages=118|language=en}}</ref> Like all pelicans, brown pelicans are highly sensitive to disturbances by humans (including tourists or fishermen) at their nests, and may even abandon their nests.<ref name="National">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080303181033/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-brownpelican.cfm Brown Pelican]. Smithsonian's National Zoological Park</ref> Due to their size, non-nesting adults are rarely predated.<ref name=":3" /> Brown pelicans have several parasitic worms such as ''Petagiger'', ''Echinochasmus'', ''Phagicola longus'', ''Mesostephanus appendiculatoides'', ''Contracaecum multipapillatum'', and ''Contracaecum bioccai'', from its prey diet of [[black mullet]]s, [[white mullet]]s, and other fish species.<ref name=":15" />
 ==Relationship with humans==
-The brown pelican is now a staple of crowded coastal regions and is tolerated to varying degrees by fishermen and boaters. In the early twentieth century, hunting was a major cause of its death, and people still hunt adults for their feathers and collect eggs on the Caribbean coasts, in [[Latin America]]n, and occasionally in the United States, even though it is protected under the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918]].<ref name="hbw2" /><ref name=":1" />
+The brown pelican is now a staple of crowded coastal regions and is at some risk by fishermen (monofilament fishing line and hooks) and boaters. In the early twentieth century, hunting was a major cause of its death, and people still hunt adults for their feathers and collect eggs on the Caribbean coasts, in [[Latin America]], and occasionally in the United States, even though it is protected under the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918]].<ref name="hbw2" /><ref name=":1" />
 === Depictions in culture ===
@@ Line 105: / Line 116: @@
 The brown pelican is the [[List of national birds|national bird]] of [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]], [[Barbados]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]], and the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfrWCQAAQBAJ|title=The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 Volumes]|last=Minahan|first=James|date=2009|publisher=American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press|isbn=978-0-313-34497-8|pages=669, 741, 751, 761|language=en}}</ref> In 1902, it was made a part of the official [[Seal of Louisiana|Louisiana seal]] and, in 1912, a pelican and her young became part of the [[Flag of Louisiana]] as well.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uy8lAQAAMAAJ|title=Louisiana Conservationist|date=1969|publisher=Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department|pages=92|language=en}}</ref> One of Louisiana's [[List of U.S. state nicknames|state nicknames]] is "The Pelican State",<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZW7qAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA195|title=State Profiles 2013: The Population and Economy of Each U.S. State|last=Ryan|first=Mary Meghan|date=2013|publisher=Bernan Press|isbn=978-1-59888-641-2|pages=195|language=en}}</ref> and the brown pelican is the official [[List of U.S. state birds|state bird]] of Louisiana.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOQCybjwif4C&pg=PA4|title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana|last=Capace|first=Nancy|date=1999|publisher=Somerset Publishers, Inc.|isbn=978-0-403-09816-3|pages=4|language=en}}</ref> It is one of the mascots of [[Tulane University]], present on its seal,<ref name=":12">{{Cite news|url=https://www.aboutanimals.com/bird/brown-pelican/|title=Brown Pelican {{!}} The Common Pelican of America|date=2017|access-date=2017-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706025749/https://www.aboutanimals.com/bird/brown-pelican/|archive-date=2017-07-06|url-status=dead|language=en}}</ref> and is also present on the crest of the [[University of the West Indies]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v529c8e1TOoC&pg=PR2|title=The University of the West Indies: A Quinquagenary Calendar, 1948–1998|last=Hall|first=Douglas|date=1998|publisher=University of the West Indies Press|isbn=978-976-640-073-6|pages=1|language=en}}</ref> The [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA)'s [[New Orleans Pelicans]] are named in the honor of the brown pelican.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nba.com/2013/news/01/24/hornets-pelicans.ap/|title=Hornets announce name change to Pelicans|date=January 24, 2013|access-date=February 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801173042/http://www.nba.com/2013/news/01/24/hornets-pelicans.ap/|archive-date=2017-08-01|publisher=National Basketball Association}}</ref>
-In the 1993 film ''[[The Pelican Brief (film)|The Pelican Brief]]'', based on the [[The Pelican Brief|novel of the same name]] by [[John Grisham]], a legal brief speculates that the assassins of two supreme court justices were motivated by a desire to drill for oil on a Louisiana marshland that was a habitat of the endangered brown pelican. In the same year, ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' showed a pod of brown pelicans at the end of the film. In 1998, American conductor [[David Woodard]] performed a requiem for a California brown pelican on the seaward limit of the [[berm]] of a beach where the animal had fallen.<ref>Manzer, T., [http://juniperhills.net/Pelican's%20goodbye%20is%20a%20sad%20song.jpg "Pelican's Goodbye is a Sad Song"], ''[[Long Beach Press-Telegram]]'', October 2, 1998.</ref> In the 2003 [[Disney]]/[[Pixar]] film ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', a brown pelican (voiced by [[Geoffrey Rush]] in an Australian accent) was illustrated as a friendly, virtuous talking character named Nigel.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNEdYxQM_hkC|title=TV Guide film & video companion|last=Anonymous|date=2004|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books|isbn=978-0-7607-6104-5|pages=316|language=en}}</ref>{{efn|The film is set in Australia,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3z1i3VcYyGQC&pg=PA65|title=Film-induced Tourism|last=Beeton|first=Sue|date=2005|publisher=Channel View Publications|isbn=978-1-84541-014-8|pages=65|language=en}}</ref> although the [[Australian pelican]] is the only pelican known to occur in that country.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0Jq2DwwDaAC|title=Wildlife of Australia|last1=Campbell|first1=Iain|last2=Woods|first2=Sam|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4682-5|pages=80|language=en}}</ref>}}
+In the 1993 film ''[[The Pelican Brief (film)|The Pelican Brief]]'', based on the [[The Pelican Brief|novel of the same name]] by [[John Grisham]], a legal brief speculates that the assassins of two supreme court justices were motivated by a desire to drill for oil on a Louisiana marshland that was a habitat of the endangered brown pelican. In the same year, ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' showed a pod of brown pelicans at the end of the film. In 1998, American conductor [[David Woodard]] performed a requiem for a California brown pelican on the seaward limit of the [[berm]] of a beach where the animal had fallen.<ref>{{cite news|last=Manzer|first=T.|url=https://juniperhills.net/p.jpg|title=Pelican's Goodbye is a Sad Song|work=[[Long Beach Press-Telegram]]|date=October 2, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Allen|first=B.|title=Pelican|location=[[London]]|publisher=[[Reaktion Books]]|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aD96EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152|pages=152–153|isbn=9781789141177}}</ref>{{rp|152–153}} In the 2003 [[Disney]]/[[Pixar]] film ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', a brown pelican (voiced by [[Geoffrey Rush]] in an Australian accent) was illustrated as a friendly, virtuous talking character named Nigel.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aD96EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152|title=TV Guide film & video companion|last=Anonymous|date=2004|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books|isbn=978-0-7607-6104-5|pages=316|language=en}}</ref>{{efn|The film is set in Australia,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3z1i3VcYyGQC&pg=PA65|title=Film-induced Tourism|last=Beeton|first=Sue|date=2005|publisher=Channel View Publications|isbn=978-1-84541-014-8|pages=65|language=en}}</ref> although the [[Australian pelican]] is the only pelican known to occur in that country.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0Jq2DwwDaAC|title=Wildlife of Australia|last1=Campbell|first1=Iain|last2=Woods|first2=Sam|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4682-5|pages=80|language=en}}</ref>}}
 ===Status and conservation===
@@ Line 114: / Line 125: @@
 ==== Indicator species ====
-The brown pelican abundance has steadily recovered from the drastic population decreases in the 1940s, however bottom up control threatens the [[Southern California]] populations as food sources become diminished. It is common for [[forage fish]] populations to experience regular fluctuations, however there has been a consistent decrease in the Pacific sardine population beginning as early as 2014.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill, Kevin T., creator.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/913226525|title=Assessment of the Pacific sardine resource in 2015 for U.S.A. management in 2015-16|oclc=913226525}}</ref> In 2019 these declines were found to have reached levels which were a mere 10% of the highest reported abundances.<ref name=":17" /> Fluctuations in sardine populations have largely been attributed to bottom-up control, primarily including climate variability and ocean temperature.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last1=Checkley|first1=David M.|last2=Asch|first2=Rebecca G.|last3=Rykaczewski|first3=Ryan R.|date=2017-01-03|title=Climate, Anchovy, and Sardine|url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033819|journal=Annual Review of Marine Science|volume=9|issue=1|pages=469–493|doi=10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033819|pmid=28045355|issn=1941-1405|doi-access=free}}</ref> The significant decrease in pacific sardine population can be linked to the levels of nitrogen within their habitat, a limiting factor in plankton production.<ref name=":19" /> Pacific sardines in the California current system rely on wind driven upwelling to push cooler, nitrogen rich waters towards the surface, maintaining a sustainable, nutrient abundant environment.<ref name=":19" /> Continued environmental disruptions, such as [[El Niño]], rising ocean temperatures, and increased commercial fishing, have drastic effects on [[Nutrient cycle|nutrient cycling]] within the [[California]] current system, leading to lasting impacts on Pacific sardine productivity and [[reproductive success]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal|last1=Velarde|first1=Enriqueta|last2=Ezcurra|first2=Exequiel|last3=Anderson|first3=Daniel W.|date=December 2013|title=Seabird diets provide early warning of sardine fishery declines in the Gulf of California|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=3|issue=1|pages=1332|doi=10.1038/srep01332|issn=2045-2322|pmc=3580326|pmid=23434761}}</ref><ref name=":19" />
+The brown pelican abundance has steadily recovered from the drastic population decreases in the 1940s, however bottom up control threatens the [[Southern California]] populations as food sources become diminished. It is common for [[forage fish]] populations to experience regular fluctuations, however there has been a consistent decrease in the Pacific sardine population beginning as early as 2014.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill, Kevin T., creator.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/913226525|title=Assessment of the Pacific sardine resource in 2015 for U.S.A. management in 2015-16|oclc=913226525}}</ref> In 2019 these declines were found to have reached levels which were a mere 10% of the highest reported abundances.<ref name=":17" /> Fluctuations in sardine populations have largely been attributed to bottom-up control, primarily including climate variability and ocean temperature.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last1=Checkley|first1=David M.|last2=Asch|first2=Rebecca G.|last3=Rykaczewski|first3=Ryan R.|date=2017-01-03|title=Climate, Anchovy, and Sardine|journal=Annual Review of Marine Science|volume=9|issue=1|pages=469–493|doi=10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033819|pmid=28045355|bibcode=2017ARMS....9..469C|issn=1941-1405|doi-access=free}}</ref> The significant decrease in pacific sardine population can be linked to the levels of nitrogen within their habitat, a limiting factor in plankton production.<ref name=":19" /> Pacific sardines in the California current system rely on wind driven upwelling to push cooler, nitrogen rich waters towards the surface, maintaining a sustainable, nutrient abundant environment.<ref name=":19" /> Continued environmental disruptions, such as [[El Niño]], rising ocean temperatures, and increased commercial fishing, have drastic effects on [[Nutrient cycle|nutrient cycling]] within the [[California]] current system, leading to lasting impacts on Pacific sardine productivity and [[reproductive success]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal|last1=Velarde|first1=Enriqueta|last2=Ezcurra|first2=Exequiel|last3=Anderson|first3=Daniel W.|date=December 2013|title=Seabird diets provide early warning of sardine fishery declines in the Gulf of California|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=3|issue=1|pages=1332|doi=10.1038/srep01332|issn=2045-2322|pmc=3580326|pmid=23434761|bibcode=2013NatSR...3.1332V}}</ref><ref name=":19" />
 The brown pelican has been predicted to have high vulnerability to declining sardine populations .<ref name=":17" /> At the lowest levels of sardine abundance, the brown pelican population has been predicted to decline up to 50%.<ref name=":17" /> Even with a more moderate decline in sardine abundance (50% relative abundance), brown pelicans have been predicted to decrease by up to 27%.<ref name=":17" /> A recent decline in brown pelican breeding success coincides with the population decline of the Pacific sardine.<ref name=":17" /> Between 2014 and 2016, brown pelicans experienced a continuous breeding failure.<ref name=":21">{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Godínez-Reyes|first2=Carlos R.|last3=Velarde|first3=Enriqueta|last4=Avalos-Tellez|first4=Rosalía|last5=Ramírez-Delgado|first5=David|last6=Moreno-Prado|first6=Hugo|last7=Bowen|first7=Thomas|last8=Gress|first8=Franklin|last9=Trejo-Ventura|first9=Jesus|last10=Adrean|first10=Lindsay|last11=Meltzer|first11=Lorayne|date=2017-03-31|title=Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus (Aves: Pelecanidae): Five decades with ENSO, dynamic nesting, and contemporary breeding status in the Gulf of California|url=http://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/2710|journal=Ciencias Marinas|language=en|volume=43|issue=1|pages=1–34|doi=10.7773/cm.v43i1.2710|issn=2395-9053|doi-access=free}}</ref> These breeding failures have been characterized by decreased numbers of pelicans arriving at nesting colonies, large scale abandonment and early migration due to an inability to feed hatchlings, and sub-optimal breeding by those who do attempt to breed.<ref name=":21" /> Breeding success is greatly reduced by oceanic anomalies, specifically warm-phase anomalies that increase the intensity of upwellings.<ref name=":20" /> Increased upwellings disrupt marine productivity and forage fish availability.<ref name=":20" /> These trends have important implications for the health and conservation of brown pelicans, as well as other seabirds.<ref name=":21" />
-Seabirds have become increasingly important as an [[Bioindicator|indicator species]]. They are often used in order to indirectly track changes in fish stocks, ecosystem health, and [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Einoder|first=L. D.|date=2009-01-01|title=A review of the use of seabirds as indicators in fisheries and ecosystem management|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783608003093|journal=Fisheries Research|language=en|volume=95|issue=1|pages=6–13|doi=10.1016/j.fishres.2008.09.024|issn=0165-7836}}</ref> Environmental changes tend to have fast acting impacts on marine bird populations due to the simplicity of their [[trophic cascade]], allowing for complex, long term trends in ecosystem health and resources to be easily realized and tracked.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Durant|first1=Jm|last2=Hjermann|first2=Dø|last3=Frederiksen|first3=M|last4=Charrassin|first4=Jb|last5=Le Maho|first5=Y|last6=Sabarros|first6=Ps|last7=Crawford|first7=Rjm|last8=Stenseth|first8=Nc|date=2009-07-14|title=Pros and cons of using seabirds as ecological indicators|url=http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/cr/v39/n2/p115-129/|journal=Climate Research|language=en|volume=39|issue=2|pages=115–129|doi=10.3354/cr00798|issn=0936-577X|doi-access=free}}</ref> Brown pelicans have proven to be a useful indicator in determining the effects of the well established fishing industry in Southern California. Sardine fishery in the [[Gulf of California]] has been showing signs of overfishing since the early 1990s.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal|last1=Velarde|first1=Enriqueta|last2=Ezcurra|first2=Exequiel|last3=Cisneros-Mata|first3=Miguel A.|last4=LavÍn|first4=Miguel F.|date=April 2004|title=SEABIRD ECOLOGY, EL NIÑO ANOMALIES, AND PREDICTION OF SARDINE FISHERIES IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/02-5320|journal=Ecological Applications|volume=14|issue=2|pages=607–615|doi=10.1890/02-5320|issn=1051-0761}}</ref> Sardine population and abundance, however, is difficult to monitor and obtain indicators for.<ref name=":22" /> Since lacking food availability has negative implications for breeding success in seabirds, seabird diet and breeding success has been used to indirectly measure the population status of the fish they feed on.<ref name=":22" /> This model has been shown to work using brown pelicans as an indicator species. As the proportion of sardines in the brown pelicans diet decreases, the success of [[Fishery|fisheries]] declines to a lesser extent.<ref name=":20" /> When eventually the sardine abundance has declined enough for brown pelicans to move away and begin feeding on other forage fish, commercial fishing still would be fishing in significant numbers.<ref name=":20" /> This indicates that even when fisheries are not seeing signs of declining sardine abundance, brown pelicans may have already been affected to the point of locating other food sources.<ref name=":20" /> This availability of sardines may decline even further during El Niño anomalies, when [[thermocline]]s prevent brown pelicans from reaching their prey.<ref name=":20" /> Brown pelican diet will mostly indicate declines in sardine abundance for fisheries during the same season, as brown pelicans feed mostly on the same adult fish that are commercially fished.<ref name=":20" /> Although brown pelicans serve as an important indicator species for fisheries, declining sardine abundance due to both climate changes and overfishing have huge implications on overall ecosystem health, within or outside the individual trophic cascade.
+Seabirds have become increasingly important as an [[Bioindicator|indicator species]]. They are often used in order to indirectly track changes in fish stocks, ecosystem health, and [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Einoder|first=L. D.|date=2009-01-01|title=A review of the use of seabirds as indicators in fisheries and ecosystem management|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783608003093|journal=Fisheries Research|language=en|volume=95|issue=1|pages=6–13|doi=10.1016/j.fishres.2008.09.024|bibcode=2009FishR..95....6E |issn=0165-7836}}</ref> Environmental changes tend to have fast acting impacts on marine bird populations due to the simplicity of their [[trophic cascade]], allowing for complex, long term trends in ecosystem health and resources to be easily realized and tracked.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Durant|first1=Jm|last2=Hjermann|first2=Dø|last3=Frederiksen|first3=M|last4=Charrassin|first4=Jb|last5=Le Maho|first5=Y|last6=Sabarros|first6=Ps|last7=Crawford|first7=Rjm|last8=Stenseth|first8=Nc|date=2009-07-14|title=Pros and cons of using seabirds as ecological indicators|url=http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/cr/v39/n2/p115-129/|journal=Climate Research|language=en|volume=39|issue=2|pages=115–129|doi=10.3354/cr00798|bibcode=2009ClRes..39..115D|issn=0936-577X|doi-access=free|hdl=10852/37340|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Brown pelicans have proven to be a useful indicator in determining the effects of the well-established fishing industry in Southern California. Sardine fishery in the [[Gulf of California]] has been showing signs of overfishing since the early 1990s.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal|last1=Velarde|first1=Enriqueta|last2=Ezcurra|first2=Exequiel|last3=Cisneros-Mata|first3=Miguel A.|last4=LavÍn|first4=Miguel F.|date=April 2004|title=SEABIRD ECOLOGY, EL NIÑO ANOMALIES, AND PREDICTION OF SARDINE FISHERIES IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/02-5320|journal=Ecological Applications|volume=14|issue=2|pages=607–615|doi=10.1890/02-5320|bibcode=2004EcoAp..14..607V |issn=1051-0761}}</ref> Sardine population and abundance, however, is difficult to monitor and obtain indicators for.<ref name=":22" /> Since lacking food availability has negative implications for breeding success in seabirds, seabird diet, and breeding success have been used to indirectly measure the population status of the fish they feed on.<ref name=":22" /> This model has been shown to work using brown pelicans as an indicator species. As the proportion of sardines in the brown pelican's diet decreases, the success of [[Fishery|fisheries]] declines to a lesser extent.<ref name=":20" /> When eventually the sardine abundance has declined enough for brown pelicans to move away and begin feeding on other forage fish, commercial fishing still would be fishing in significant numbers.<ref name=":20" /> This indicates that even when fisheries are not seeing signs of declining sardine abundance, brown pelicans may have already been affected to the point of locating other food sources.<ref name=":20" /> This availability of sardines may decline even further during El Niño anomalies, when [[thermocline]]s prevent brown pelicans from reaching their prey.<ref name=":20" /> Brown pelican diet will mostly indicate declines in sardine abundance for fisheries during the same season, as brown pelicans feed mostly on the same adult fish that are commercially fished.<ref name=":20" /> Although brown pelicans serve as an important indicator species for fisheries, declining sardine abundance due to both climate changes and overfishing have huge implications on overall ecosystem health, within or outside the individual trophic cascade.
-== Notes ==
+== Explanatory notes ==
 {{notelist}}
@@ Line 131: / Line 142: @@
 * {{EBirdSpecies|brnpel|Brown Pelican}}
 * {{VIREO|brown+pelican|Brown Pelican}}
-* [https://www.flickr.com/groups/birdguide/pool/tags/Pelecanus%20occidentalis Field Guide Page on Flickr]
+* [https://www.flickr.com/groups/birdguide/pool/tags/Pelecanus%20occidentalis Field Guide Page] on [[Flickr]]
 * {{IUCN_Map|22733989|Pelecanus occidentalis}}
@@ Line 138: / Line 149: @@
 {{Authority control}}
+[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
-{{DEFAULTSORT:pelican, brown}}
-[[Category:Pelecanus|brown pelican]]
+[[Category:Birds described in 1766]]
-[[Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States]]
 [[Category:Birds of Central America]]
 [[Category:Birds of Colombia]]
 [[Category:Birds of Ecuador]]
-[[Category:Birds of Venezuela]]
 [[Category:Birds of Mexico]]
 [[Category:Birds of the Caribbean]]
 [[Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic]]
+[[Category:Birds of Venezuela]]
 [[Category:Galápagos Islands coastal fauna]]
 [[Category:Least concern biota of North America]]
 [[Category:Least concern biota of the United States]]
+[[Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States]]
+[[Category:Pelecanus]]
 [[Category:Symbols of Louisiana]]
-[[Category:Birds described in 1766|brown pelican]]
+[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
-[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|brown pelican]]
-[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
-[[Category:Pelicans|Brown pelican]]