Another Pelican Post

[Tensaw]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillard_Island

In 1979 Gaillard Island was created as a disposal island for a ship channel made to connect Mobile Bay and Theodore Industrial Park where a navy port was built.

In 1983 a biologist discovered four brown pelicans nesting on the island. This was the first sighting in Alabama since their decline due to hunting in the early 1900s. Pelican feathers, in that era, were used for women's hats. Further decline came in the 1940s due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. At that time, they were placed on both the Alabama and federal endangered species list. Partly due to increased nesting and propagation of the brown pelicans on Gaillard Island, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped the species from the state's endangered species list, and in 1998, the brown pelican was removed from the federal endangered species list.

 

[coach]

I don’t know if these are brown pelicans, but I saw these at Assateague Island this past summer.

 

[BDM1]

That's a good post, thanks. DDT really did a number on a lot of bird populations, we all remember what it did to eagle numbers. I have wondered over the years what effects it may or may not have had on human health. Anyway, it's great when a species can recover like that, thanks again for posting that.

 

[Fox Mike]

Saw these on the way to Smith Island in the lower Chesapeake a couple years ago. When I first went there in the late 70s I had never seen a pelican anywhere on the Bay. Now they are commonplace in the summer.

 

[coach]

What a difference between a cell phone and a real camera. Good photo.

 

[Tensaw]

I don’t know if these are brown pelicans, but I saw these at Assateague Island this past summer.

Yep, brown pelicans.

 

[Mobuck]

I saw several dark colored pelican(ish) birds yesterday. Bet they wish they were somewhere else this morning (25*). Waterfowl is beginning to migrate through and the eagles follow the ducks/geese. I've seen 20 or so eagles mostly scavenging road kill deer during the last week.
Seems like some sort of "sign-of-the-times" when I see our national bird crawling out of the gut cavity of a rotting carcass. Nature's making a political statement??

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I've seen 20 or so eagles mostly scavenging road kill deer during the last week. Seems like some sort of "sign-of-the-times" when I see our national bird crawling out of the gut cavity of a rotting carcass. Nature's making a political statement??

Ben Franklin had observed the feeding habits of eagles, and strongly recommended the wild turkey as our national bird/symbol. Ol' Ben was pretty sharp.

:mrgreen:

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well, Our own Ruger Forum member Gunslinger Hank who is now deceased was responsible for bringing back the Brown Pelican to Louisiana. I can't remember all of the details that he told me about. I do know it was quite an accomplishment for him in his younger years..


Brown Pelican Facts

The state bird of Louisiana is unique among the world's seven species of pelicans. The brown pelican is found along the ocean shores and not on inland lakes. It is the only dark pelican, and also the only one that plunges from the air into the water to catch its food.

Pesticide use caused pelicans to stop nesting along the Louisiana coast in 1961, and they completely disappeared by 1966. Louisiana began attempting to re-populate its coastline by transporting Florida fledglings into the state.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the brown pelican as an endangered species in 1970, but the Federal Government declared the brown pelican "recovered" in Louisiana in 1995 . About 40,000 brown pelicans call "The Pelican State" their home today.

 

[Fox Mike]

These are Florida residents in Tampa Bay