A dark-bodied pelican that plunge-dives into the sea to catch fish.
It has an oversized bill, a long neck and a dark body. A pouch beneath the bill drains away water taken in with fish.
At Raccoon Island, Louisiana, researchers GPS-tracked 30 adult Brown Pelicans over four breeding seasons (2014–2017). They compared the birds’ foraging sites with Gulf menhaden habitat estimates based on fishing-vessel catch reports and environmental data.
Early in each season, tracked birds used places with lower estimated prey quality than nearby areas. Later, quality at their chosen sites rose faster than the surrounding background. For about a quarter of the tracking period, used sites ranked significantly higher than random locations. This shift coincided with chicks growing and parents needing more food. The authors suggest learning or social information may help, but did not identify a cause. The study covers one colony; prey was modeled, not counted at each location.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global species-level assessment
The 2018 IUCN global assessment lists the Brown Pelican as Least Concern (LC), with an increasing population trend, citing its very large range and population. The same assessment identifies entanglement in fishing hooks and lines, declines in coastal prey fish, and human disturbance at breeding colonies as threats. Conservation sites had been identified across the range and the species occurred in at least one protected area, but no systematic monitoring scheme was recorded. The assessment notes that North American long-term increases are based on surveys covering less than half of the species’ range there. The assessment date is 9 August 2018.