Service 1973; Jehl 1973;Wmiams 1931). Between 

 breeding seasons, the range extends northward 

 along the coast to southern British Columbia 

 (Burrard Inlet) and inland to Central British 

 Columbia (Chilcotin District) and southward 

 along the Pacific Coast of Mexico an unknown 

 distance, but at least to Colima (Bond 1942). The 

 main northward movements are in July. 



Rarely, pelicans wander inland in California 

 (Stanislaus County, 19 Sept. 1913) (Wetmore 

 1945; Bent 1922), but usually stay very closely 

 restricted to the seashore. Sightings in the interior 

 are rare (Mailliard 1913); Grinnell and Miller 

 1944; Wetmore 1945). Of 71 recoveries of peli- 

 cans banded as young on Anacapa Island, taken 

 mostly along the coast from Marin County, Cali- 

 fornia south to Nayarit, Mexico, 4 were recovered 

 inland at: Potrero, San Diego Co. (40 km inland) 

 San Gabriel, Los Angeles Co. (34 km inland) 

 Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co. (18 km inland) 

 amd Petrolia, Humboldt Co. (9 km inland) (Bond 

 1942, 1948). Of 31 band recoveries or sightings 

 of brown pelicans marked as nestlings in the Gulf 

 of California area and recorded north of the nest- 

 ing area, 7 (33%) were from inland areas in the 

 Southwest Desert; all were first-year recoveries. 

 Record numbers of brown pelicans were reported 

 during July 1972 in the Tucson-Phoenix, Arizona 

 vicinity and the Salton Sea in California in July 

 and August 1972. Anderson et al. (1972a, 1977) 

 suggested that such dispersal results from dom- 

 inant south winds, often with heavy thunder- 

 storms that ground the birds, rather than being 

 the result of searching for food. 



RANGE MAPS 



The distribution of the eastern brown pelican 

 is indicated by shading, and its breeding colonies 

 are represented by dots on the following maps. 



The breeding rjinge of the California subspecies 

 is shown on the range map for this group. 



STATES/COUNTIES 



Eastern subspecies 



Alabama: Baldwin, Mobile. 



Florida: Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, 



Citrus, Collier, Dade, Dixie Duval, 

 Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gulf, 

 Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian 

 River, Jefferson, Lee, Levy, Mana- 

 tee, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Oka- 

 loosa, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, 

 Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. 



Johns, St. Lucie, Taylor, Volusia, 

 Wakulla, Walton. 



Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, 



Liberty, Mcintosh. 



Louisiana: Cameron, Jefferson, LaFourclie, 

 Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Mary, 

 Terrebonne, Vermilion. 



Mississippi: Hancock, Harrison, Jackson. 



N. Carolina: Brunswick, Carteret, Currituck, 

 Dare, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow, 

 Pamlico, Pender. 



S. Carolina: Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, 

 Georgetown, Horry. 



Texas: Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cam- 



eron, Chambers, Galveston, Jeffer- 

 son, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, 

 Nueces, San Patricio, Willacy. 



California subspecies 



California: Del Norte, Humboldt, Los Angeles, 

 Marin, Montery, Orange, San Diego, 

 San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, 

 Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Ventura. 



HABITAT 



Eastern subspecies 



Pelicans usually feed in shallow estuarine 

 waters, although they are sometimes seen 30 to 

 60 km offshore (Schreiber 1979). Groups are 

 often observed flying over the surf on both the 

 Atlantic and Gulf shores of Florida, occasionally 

 feeding beyond the breakers. Schreiber (1979) 

 states that sandspits and offshore sandbars are 

 used for loafing in the daytime and roosting at 

 night. 



Brown pelicans, especially juvenile birds, 

 frequent fishing piers where scraps are available 

 (Schreiber 1979). 



Habitat photographs are found in Bent (1922). 



California subspecies 



The primary habitat is the ocean littoral just 

 outside the surf line. This pelican rarely strays 

 either inland or far offshore. It is confined to the 

 semiarid western coast, bathed by the relatively 

 cool waters of the California current, which pro- 

 bably limits its range southward (Murphy 1936, 

 Anderson and Anderson 1976). 



The preferred nesting habitat is on offshore 

 islands, although some individuals nest in man- 

 grove growing in estuarine locations along the 

 Sinaloa coast. 



