MORRO BAY, California. — On the rugged coastline of Central California, brown pelicans gather on rocky headlands like nervous passengers flying off to feast on a huge school of fish just offshore. The water churns with white caps as large-billed birds dive below the surface in search of northern anchovies, Pacific sardines and mackerel.
If on land they look clumsy and shaky, then in the air they are graceful. The signature pouch that hangs below the bottom of its beak can scoop up to 3 gallons of water each time it dives into the ocean—the largest pouch of any bird in the world.
This is what scientists call a “feeding frenzy.” And it's an encouraging sign for the bird, which has struggled in recent years with warming oceans, inconsistent breeding patterns and toxic algae blooms in Southern California.
“I would say the populations are somewhat stable, but some events are causing concern,” says marine ornithologist Tammy Russell, a research scientist at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Seabirds gorging themselves are “a good sign for the marine environment,” Russell said.
On this warm and clear day, thousands of birds colonized the nearby beaches and cliffs, attracted by the abundant food. Cormorants and gulls mingle with pelicans. The incessant roar of the waves and the chorus of bird calls are all that can be heard along this jutting jaw of coastline.
The bird's range along the Pacific coast extends from British Columbia, Canada, to Mexico. In his fight for survival, Russell notes that the California brown pelican was once on the federal endangered species list after a dramatic population decline was linked to the pesticide DDT, which causes eggshell thinning. The population recovered and the bird was delisted in 2009, although it still faces many problems.
They are large birds, with adults weighing about 8 pounds and a wingspan of nearly 7 feet. And because they are big, they need large amounts of fish, their favorite food, every day.
“If they don't figure that out, they could fail pretty quickly,” Russell said.
If the water warms up, fish may move into deeper, colder water, making it difficult for birds to feed. Last year dozens sick and starving pelicans were found in coastal communities in California, and many more died. Wildlife authorities have been confused in 2022, when large numbers of California brown pelicans were found sick and dying.
Earlier this year, a toxic algal bloom poisoned pelicans and other marine life along the coast.
Scientists are still learning how birds respond to changes in their environment, Russell said. They now use electronic anklets to track the birds as they travel.
As the big birds gradually head south to islands off the coast of California or Mexico to breed, “it's encouraging to see a group of pelicans feeding and doing well,” Russell said.
