Dangers_Threats to Brown Pelicans

Dangers and Threats
To Brown Pelicans

Dangers to Brown Pelicans

Brown pelicans of every age sometimes develop the regrettable habit of frequenting fishing docks for handouts. The birds may become so tame and accustomed to being fed that they will try to intercept fishing lures being cast into the water.

Too often this ends up with a bird having a hook impaled in its body or snagged in its pouch. Or the pelican may become helplessly entangled in the fishing line.

If the a fishing hook rips a pelican's pouch, the pelican could starve. A good number of brown pelicans brought to rehabilitation centers are there to have their pouches repaired.

Past Pesticide Damage

Brown pelican populations were severely damaged in many parts of the country by the pesticide DDT. The DDT caused the adults to produce thinner egg shells that could not survive the incubation process.

Fortunately, most of Florida's brown pelicans, at least, escaped this situation because the pesticide was not widely used throughout the state.

Florida's current brown pelican population is estimated at about 20,000 birds.

Elsewhere in the Southeast, the declining brown pelican populations, along with those of the bald eagle, were important signals that something in the environment was very, very wrong.

Fortunately, the birds are rebounding well almost everywhere. In fact, the brown pelican was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2009.

In Florida, it's easy to see thriving colonies of brown pelicans. Link to the first topic below.

To Where to See Nesting Brown Pelicans

To How Brown Pelicans Feed

To Brown Pelican Breeding & Nesting

To How Brown Pelicans Fly & Dive

To Florida Wildlife & Animals Home

Dangers and Threats To Brown Pelicans

Dangers and Threats
To Brown Pelicans