CDFG

California Department of Fish and Game News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 22, 2010

Contacts: Esther Burkett, Wildlife Biologist, (916) 445-3764 

Dana Michaels, Information Officer, (916) 322-2420

Scientists Zero In on Causes of Pelican Stranding Along California Coast

Scientific investigation indicates shortages of preferred prey items, like anchovies 

and sardines, and rough winter weather as primary causes for the pelican 

mass-stranding. Scientists from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), 

the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Sea World San Diego and 

International Bird Rescue Research Center pooled their resources to determine why 

so many brown pelicans are stranding along the California and Oregon coast.  

"Working collaboratively with other organizations, we have been able to quickly examine 

multiple causes for the stranding event," said DFG Wildlife Veterinarian Melissa Miller, 

in Santa Cruz. "Unfortunately, we are looking primarily at a cyclical event driven largely 

by weather and oceanographic conditions. Food shortage coupled with bad weather 

have taken a toll on the pelicans."

Mass-stranding of brown pelicans was reported along the California and Oregon coast 

about this time in 2009, again with widespread food shortages identified as a factor. 

Some stranded birds have little or no body fat stores and atypical foods in their digestive 

tracts. Shortages of preferred prey items could be caused in part by the current El Nino event.

Some pelicans have also had waterproofing problems with their feathers, possibly related 

to storm runoff from recent heavy coastal rains. Preliminary findings from postmortem 

examinations suggest that infectious disease and/or marine toxins are not major contributors 

to this event. 

Live-stranded birds are responding quickly to feeding at rehabilitation facilities, although 

these facilities have been overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude of birds stranding along 

the coast. DFG is donating frozen trout to these organizations to assist with the rehabilitation 

effort. 

When pelicans are starving and sick they may fly into or be found in unusual places, be 

unaware of their surroundings, tolerate human approach or demonstrate other unusual 

behaviors. Anyone finding stranded or dead pelicans should not approach or handle the birds, 

but note their location and report it to either 800-39-WHALE in Los Angeles County or 

866-WILD-911 elsewhere.

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Note: This e-mail account is used to distribute information to the public. Do not reply to 

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 - Subscribe to DFG News via e-mail or RSS feed -- go to  www.dfg.ca.gov/news 

As recent as yesterday, we still had a good amount of pelicans on the Big Creek beach. They were diving into the creek attempting to eat trout. We saw another 5 dead ones over the weekend. California Department of Fish and Game has begun an investigation on what may be causing the death of hundreds of pelicans across the State. See below for the news release.California Department of Fish and Game News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 11, 2010

Contacts: Esther Burkett, Wildlife Biologist, (916) 445-3764
Dana Michaels, Information Officer, (916) 322-2420

DFG Investigating Cause of Brown Pelican Deaths

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is collaborating with
other wildlife experts to investigate a brown pelican crisis all along
the California coastline. Since mid-January, hundreds of the seabirds
have been coming ashore in a variety of conditions, from merely confused
to dead. Veterinarians, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation groups, Sea
World, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others are pooling their
resources to determine the cause of these popular birds’ distress.

Wildlife rescue centers from the San Francisco Bay Area to San Diego
are collecting the live pelicans and saving as many as possible. The
International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) facility in San Pedro
has more than 200 sick and injured pelicans in-house. IBRRCs San
Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center in Cordelia has
received more than 100 pelicans, and more are brought in each day.

Many of the pelicans are wet, meaning that their feathers’ insulating
properties have been compromised and their feathers have parted,
exposing their skin to the cold ocean water and winter weather. Thus, in
addition to whatever has made them ill or disoriented, they are also
suffering from hypothermia. None of the pelicans received from the
Monterey Bay area thus far had significant feather fouling, but some
pelicans in southern California did, and the severe winter storms and
resultant urban run-off may be a factor.

“We don’t know what’s causing this yet, but we’ve sent feather samples
to various laboratories for analysis. It always helps to have multiple
sets of eyes looking at things from a pathology perspective,” said DFG
Wildlife Veterinarian Melissa Miller, in Santa Cruz. Results of various
tissue and organ analyses are not yet available to help determine the
cause of the die-off. The El Niño condition in the marine environment
may be a factor.

DFG’s Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz
has performed necropsies on 12 pelicans. Most of these were adults in
breeding plumage that ranged from thin to good nutritional condition.
Three of the dead pelicans had innkeeper worm parts in their intestines,
and a few had what appeared to be seal or sea lion bite wounds on the
breast, neck or back, with secondary bacterial infections. The
necropsies have found that pelicans are eating unusual prey items, which
is indicative that they are having trouble finding or accessing their
normal prey of anchovies and sardines.

IBRRC is feeding the captured birds with more than 1,000 lbs. of fish
per day between its two centers. Unfortunately, the IBRRC is running out
of money. Because of the state’s enormous budget deficit, DFG has no
funds to contribute but has sent biologists to assist IBRRC staff with
pelican care in Cordelia, and DFG volunteers in southern California are
assessing the number of dead pelicans on beaches. Anyone who wishes to
help with care of the pelicans can make donations online at
http://www.ibrrc.org. Donations are tax-deductible.

“As someone who has been rehabilitating marine birds for more than 40
years in California, I must say that I have never seen anything like
this that has lasted this long,” said IBRRC Director Jay Holcomb. “There
seems to be no end to this.”

The staff are banding and releasing rehabilitated pelicans as quickly
as possible. Rehabilitated pelicans have blue-colored bands with
identifying numbers to help track their survival in the wild.

Anyone who sees pelicans that appear to be sick or injured, or
entangled with fishing line should not touch or approach them. Injured
wildlife will instinctively defend themselves and may injure someone
trying to help them. To report pelicans in distress, the public can
phone either 800-39-WHALE in Los Angeles County or 866-WILD-911
elsewhere. The latter number is also good for reporting dead marine
birds.

DFG is also advising the public not to feed the pelicans though some
may appear to be begging or very weak. Feeding can lead to habituation
to humans, and that can lead to conflicts in the future, such as
entanglement in fishing line on or near piers. Improper feeding could
also cause damage to the pelicans throat pouch or worsen their sickness.
Though it is difficult to observe the pelicans in distress, it is a
normal process for some to die in winter due to natural causes. Natural
mortality is the inevitable consequence of the constant balancing
between animal populations and shifting supplies of needed resources.

California brown pelicans were removed from both the state and federal
endangered species lists in 2009.

####

Note: This e-mail account is used to distribute information to the
public. Do not reply to this e-mail. Direct questions or comments
regarding the information contained in this e-mail to the Department
staff listed as points of contact for this subject.

– Subscribe to DFG News via e-mail or RSS feed — go to
www.dfg.ca.gov/news
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