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Pelican Round-up Nets Hundreds of Birds

Posted on: August 07, 2007

By Martha Wackenhut and Jennifer Jackson, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Cattle round-ups are a part of life here in southeast Idaho. But who ever heard of a pelican round-up?

In the early morning hours of July 19, 20 biologists and volunteers descended on Gull Island in the Blackfoot Reservoir and encircled several hundred young flightless pelicans. They corralled the pelicans with plastic fencing while several people captured individual birds and took them to teams who then attached U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leg bands and black wing tags – cattle ear tags, no less.

They marked 300 birds in less than three hours.

The biologists and volunteers from Idaho Fish and Game “hit the trail,” so to speak, to attach leg bands and wing tags to 600 young American white pelicans at two locations in southern and southeastern Idaho. The birds were marked to help Fish and Game learn more about their movements and behavior in southeast Idaho, the intermountain region and at wintering areas outside of Idaho.

The round-up and marking process was repeated the following morning at Lake Walcott on the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge, where another 300 pre-fledgling pelicans were banded and tagged — this time with red wing tags.

“It was hot, dusty and very smelly, but nonetheless, satisfying to complete the job,” said Scott Farnsworth, a student at Idaho State University and third-year technician for Fish and Game.

Farnsworth notes that a common defense mechanism used by young pelicans is to regurgitate stomach contents when approached. Thank goodness cows are known to only chew their cuds. But of course, biologists have never been trampled by stampeding pelicans either.

American white pelican populations have been increasing in southeast Idaho in recent years. There are only two nesting colonies in Idaho, both in the southeastern corner of the state. The Blackfoot Reservoir nest colony has increased from about 100 nests in the mid 1990s to about 1,700 nests this summer. The Lake Walcott colony also has been on a steady increase in recent years, with about 1,900 nests counted this summer.

“This increase is appreciated by many as pelican populations are recovering from years of low numbers due to DDT, disease, and disturbance and destruction of colonies,” said Colleen Moulton, senior wildlife research biologist for Fish and Game’s nongame bird program.

Though populations are on the increase, American white pelicans are still listed as a state Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Idaho as well as being considered a species at risk across their range.

For some, the recent success of the American white pelican in Idaho has raised some concerns about potential effects on native fish populations as well as effects on stocked, intensively managed recreational fisheries.

Though research has shown pelicans predominantly feed on nongame fish, such as chubs, carp, and suckers, there is evidence that the birds also feed opportunistically on trout in Idaho, including another sensitive species, the cutthroat trout. Fish and Game is studying pelican diets on the Blackfoot Reservoir colony and attaching radio transmitters to migrating trout to determine the extent to which pelicans are feeding on trout.

By getting locations of marked birds, wildlife managers can begin to understand how Idaho’s nesting colonies are connected to each other and to other colonies in surrounding states, including the 10,000-bird colony at the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Fish and Game also hopes to learn where pelicans “roam” for the two to three years before their breeding. And because the wing tags have unique numbers, important information about individual foraging, movement and breeding habitats will be gathered.

The information gathered from these marked birds will add to Fish and Game’s increasing knowledge of the pelicans in southeast Idaho and will be useful in developing management strategies for pelicans, fisheries and habitats associated with Idaho’s nesting colonies.

So anyone out bird-watching, fishing or otherwise enjoying Idaho’s great outdoors, is encouraged to keep a lookout for “branded” pelicans and to report them to Fish and Game.

Report Pelicans with Leg Bands and Wing Tags

Fish and Game will continue to band and tag hundreds of young pelicans from both of Idaho’s nesting colonies over the next two to three years. The Blackfoot Reservoir colony will get black wing tags, and Lake Walcott colony will get red tags. The tags will have white unique three digit codes, and all tags are on the right wing near the “elbow.”

It will help the project to get reports of marked birds from the public.

Anyone who sees one of the marked birds should contact the Pocatello Fish and Game office at 208-232-4703, the Jerome office at 208-324-4359, or Colleen Moulton in Boise at 208-287 – 2751; or send an e-mail to mwackenhut@idfg.idaho.gov, jbarrett@idfg.idaho.gov, or cmoulton@idfg.idaho.gov.

Please report the date the tagged bird was seen, the location, tag color, and the number if possible.

Did You Know?

· A female pelican will lay two eggs in her nest, though usually only one chick survives.

· A pelican typically lives 10 years, though about 50 percent of pelicans die before they reach 2 years old.

· The average weight of an adult pelican is about 15 pounds.

· The average wingspan of an adult pelican is 9 feet.

· Pelicans do some “rounding up” of their own when feeding. Together, the birds will “herd” fish into a group, encircling them before scooping the fish into their bills. The fish are then swallowed whole.

· As with all migratory birds, pelicans and their nests are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Martha Wackenhut is regional wildlife biologist for nongame in the Southeast Region.

Jennifer Jackson is regional conservation educator in the Southeast Region.


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About Dave Langston

Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.

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