Yes, We Peli-Can!

A call came to me on Monday afternoon, just after the weekend storm, that a pelican needed to be rescued! It was sitting in the middle of the road on busy South Barfield. I was asked to go and check it out and bring a towel, a cage and a net. And to keep it calm till help arrives.

A brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a big bird but not aggressive like an osprey; their long-hooked beak is intimidating, and with a wingspan of over six feet, it is wider than I am tall! According to my instructions, “I should put a towel over its head and gently position the bird inside a cage – easier said than done!” So I asked for someone to bring a net.

Code Enforcement Officer Patrick Youngkin arrived and helped direct traffic. He retrieved a collapsible net cage and a towel from his truck. Jeanene Jewett, aka JJ, a Marco volunteer for the Owl Watch Program, arrived with a net. While Officer Youngkin distracted the Pelican, JJ netted the injured bird from behind and gently squeezed it inside the cage for transport to the Wildlife hospital in Naples. It takes two people to rescue an injured Pelican!

According to the FWC website, there are eight species of pelicans in the world, and in Southwest Florida, you can see both the Brown Pelican and the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). Common to all Pelicans are their long neck and beak, large throat pouch used to scoop up water and fish, webbed feet, short legs and large stock body.

Brown Pelicans are more common on our shores, roosting on nearby mangrove branches or begging for fish scraps at the Marina. Often, we witness them offshore making a spectacular dive beak first and from as high as 35 feet, scooping food into a neck pouch!

And of course, as children, we’ve often recited the limericks about Pelicans by Dixon Lanier Merritt. 

A wonderful bird is the Pelican,

His bill will hold more than his belican,

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week,

But I'm darned if I can see how the helican!

The poem is actually correct, according to bird experts. The Pelican’s pouch will hold up to three gallons of water, while his stomach will hold about one gallon. 

JJ is also a shorebird steward for the Collier County Shorebird Stewardship Program and recently sighted a Brown Pelican resting on the beach with a leg band. It was banded in October 2023 in Tampa, and she “hopes to see more banded pelicans in future years here in Marco.”

JJ said that “Brown Pelicans are here all year and make their nests predominantly in mangrove trees. They look funny waddling on land but in the air, they are very graceful and we’ve often witnessed them flying low over the water in V-formation.”

What are the collective nouns for pelicans? A squadron, pod, pouch, scoop, rookery and brief.

There are some obvious differences between the two pelicans, specifically Plumage color and size, with the American White Pelicans larger and heavier than the Brown Pelicans. The American White Pelicans visit Southwest Florida briefly during the cooler months of winter. According to All About Birds, they have the second largest wingspan in North America, after the California Condor and have the largest beak of any other North American water bird.

Unlike their brown cousins, White Pelicans are often seen in large “pods” swimming together to corral fish to shallow water and then scoop them up into their throat pouch. Both pelicans have changed very little in the last 30-40 million years which gives them their prehistoric look.

Fishing line entanglement is a big threat to pelicans in Southwest Florida, and it is estimated that more than 700 brown pelicans die each year from entanglement. In 2020 alone, The Conservancy reported nearly 200 pelicans were brought from the Naples Pier to the wildlife hospital for entanglements. In January 2021, The City of Naples banned fishing on the Pier on Sundays.

If you find an injured or sick animal, especially owls or gopher tortoises, please note its location and email owlwatchmarco@gmail.com (monitored 24/7).