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A brown pelican flies above Tampa Bay. Photo by Jim Gray.

This Friday, May 20, 2011, the nation will celebrate Endangered Species Day. Of the nearly 2,000 plant and animal species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act— first passed in 1966 and updated in 1973—few provide better examples of the act’s power to bring species back from the brink than the brown pelican.

Conservation Success Story

By the late 1950s, U.S. populations of the brown pelican had crashed as a result of illegal hunting and, especially, use of the pesticide DDT—which led to fatal thinning of pelican eggshells after parents ingested contaminated fish. Pelicans disappeared entirely from the Pelican State of Louisiana.

In 1970, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the brown pelican as endangered throughout its range. A 1972 ban on DDT—along with transplanting thousands of chicks from Florida to Louisiana—led to remarkable population recoveries. The bird’s range in the east even expanded north to include Maryland and Virginia.

In 1985, Atlantic coast populations of the brown pelican were removed from the endangered species list. In November 2009, the species was removed from the list completely. “They’ve been doing very well,” says biologist Kelly Hornaday of the FWS endangered species program. “Annual surveys by our state partners show either stable or increasing numbers with good nesting success.”

It’s critical that conservation funding for endangered species is protected for the health of wildlife.

TAKE ACTION: Help Wildlife this Endangered Species Day >>

An Unusual Pelican

The brown pelican is unusual among the world’s eight pelican species. Along with the Peruvian pelican—a new species until recently considered the same as the brown pelican—it is the only one that lives strictly in coastal habitats, never venturing more than about 20 miles inland or out to sea.

Brown pelicans feed exclusively on fish they capture by diving headfirst into the water. The birds have excellent eyesight and can spot fish from as high as 60 feet. After nabbing their catch, pelicans scoop or dip the fish into their pouches, rise to the water’s surface, tilt their bills forward to drain the water, then toss their heads up and back to swallow.

It turns out to be true that a pelican’s “bill can hold more than his belly can”: The bird’s pouch can accommodate about three gallons of water while its stomach holds only about one.

Pelicans in the Gulf Oil Spill

The brown pelican was hit hard by the massive Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, which began just over a year ago in April 2010. More than 700 pelicans were collected in the vicinity of the spill, two-thirds of them dead. Oil also contaminated mangrove thickets on several islands where pelicans nest. And scientists still are studying potential effects of the oil on populations of fish brown pelicans feed on.

Still, Hornaday remains cautiously optimistic. “The species may take a hit for a few years,” she says. But as its recovery in recent decades demonstrates, “this is a pretty resilient bird.” Brown pelicans evolved to cope with challenges such as hurricanes and periodic crashes in prey caused by El Niño, she adds. “These birds are adapted to boom and bust cycles.”

Voice: Low grunting, rarely heard. Begging nestlings give distinctive piping and moaning sounds, by which adults identify them.

Sources: “Oil Spill Hammers Brown Pelicans” by Laura Tangley, National Wildlife, October/November 2010; Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds and National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America.

Enter Our Photo Contest!

Jim Gray took the above photo of a brown pelican flying over Tampa Bay, Florida, and entered it in last year’s National Wildlife photo contest. Why not enter your best shots in the 41st annual National Wildlife Photo Contest this year? Winners in seven categories (including birds) will appear in National Wildlife magazine alongside images taken by some of the world’s top nature photographers.

Even if oiled birds like the brown pelican are cleaned, significant numbers won’t survive their return to the wild. Should we try to rehabilitate them anyway? It’s one of the most controversial questions surrounding the response to the BP oil disaster.

David Mizejewski, National Wildlife Federation naturalist, tackles the question at CNN.com:

Some have argued that we shouldn’t bother to try to save any oiled birds, that given the long odds many face, we should simply euthanize all of them. That line of thinking overlooks recent advances in wildlife rehabilitation. It also lumps the sickest birds together with ones that may only be mildly ill.

More broadly, it misses the point that this isn’t just about playing the percentages. Humanity is an important factor in the decision to rehabilitate oiled animals. People caused this problem, and many feel it is our ethical duty to try to help the wildlife suffering as a result, even if the task is difficult and the outcome uncertain.

David is heading to Louisiana next week to view the impacts of the BP oil disaster firsthand. Keep checking back here at WildlifePromise.org for updates from the Gulf Coast.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>
 

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

But this May, with the growing oil spill, the threat of more drilling in the Arctic Circle and another Endangered Species Day upon us, it’s hard not to think about the wildlife.

One species I’m worried about this year is the Brown Pelican. Last November they were taken off the endangered species list, after recovering from the impacts of DDT. What will happen to them now that the BP oil spill is polluting their habitat?

And what about the many other species out there, that may disappear before most of us ever knew they existed?

But I don’t want to get everyone down.

Here are three things you can do to raise awareness about endangered wildlife in your community.

First, change your Facebook profile pic to a species you care about. You can download free photos you can use on Facebook here.

Second, you can share wildlife facts with us via Twitter. Just use the #speciesday hashtag, and let wildlife enthusiasts know what wildlife you care about. Need help getting started? We put together some sample tweets to pick from.

And finally, don’t forget to take action. Right now Shell Oil is getting ready to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas— both important polar bear habitats. Stop them by pushing Secretary Salazar to block their leases. 

Both those seas are so far north, that Shell can only drill in the summer. If we can delay Shell Oil just one or two months, they’ll have to wait an entire year before they can try again.

Last year, NWF supporters like you pushed Secretary Salazar to finalize a proposal to create special protected habitat areas for polar bears. If we could accomplish that, I know we can protect polar bear habitat now.

>>Take action now!>>

On Endangered Species Day, it’s important to think about the many wildlife species at risk. But don’t let it get you down. Together we can make a difference.

The good news is that this year, four species were removed from the candidate list as the USFWS decided they no longer require extensive protection!

One success story is that of the brown pelican that has recovered primarily due to the banning of the harmful pesticide DDT.

While this offers some hopeful news for a few select species like the brown pelican, with the looming effects of climate change, the opposite scenario also continues to unfold.

America’s wildlife and wild places are already feeling the impacts of rising global temperatures:

• Rapidly melting ice habitats are crippling polar bear and seal populations
• Cold water fish like salmon and trout are at risk as stream temperatures rise
• Large mammals like moose face warm weather stress and increasing parasites such as ticks and brainworms
• Birds that now migrate further north for winter contend with new prey and feeding challenges

Furthermore, an ever increasing number of animal species face difficulty breeding, migrating and providing care for their young as their habitats shrink.

The facts are clear. We can’t wait for more species to become endangered. If climate change worsens we will see less butterflies, coral reefs, Florida panthers and mallard ducks.

Labeling a species as endangered might bring awareness and temporary aid, but it will not curtail the greatest threat facing all wildlife today.