Endangered Species in Santa Cruz County - Birds

Brown Pelican

Scientific Name: Pelecanus occidentalis

Status: E

The adult brown pelican is a large dark gray-brown water bird with white about the head and neck. Immatures are gray-brown above and on the neck, with white underparts.

Forages mainly in early morning or late afternoon, or when tide is rising. Feeds almost entirely on fish, caught by diving from 20-40 feet in the air, and occasionally from up to 66 ft.

After breeding, beginning as early as mid-May, individuals leave colonies in the Channel Islands and in Mexico, and disperse along the entire California coast.

To Learn More:

• California Department of Fish and Game
  Life History Notes - distribution, habitat, breeding
• CalPhotos - University of California, Berkeley
  Browseable photographs of the species.
• Santa Cruz Public Libraries - Local Resources
  Searches SCPL's online catalog for local documents and other information on this species.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  Documents describing protection for this species under the Endangered Species Act. General information about the species as well as plans both to protect it and to help it recover.

Last updated by teeterj on Oct. 24, 2011