The brown pelican was listed as a threatened species in 1973. Photo by Jerry Lower.
By Ron Hayes
On June 8, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to remove the brown pelican from its list of threatened species for the first time in nearly 40 years.
The stately, shore-dwelling bird — a real coastal star in these parts — was among 16 species recommended for removal from the list, along with the Florida black bear and snowy egret.
But not so fast.
As with all things bureaucratic, the news is good, but not quite that simple.
“No changes will happen right away,” says Dr. Elsa Haubold, leader of the commission’s Threatened Species Management System. “The pelican, along with the 15 others, will remain on the list until we get a management plan in place to prevent them from having to be listed again.”
In other words, the brown pelican is on a list to be taken off the list — as soon as they figure out the best way to keep it from going back on the list.
The fish-eating birds, which can boast a 6- to 7-foot wingspan, were first placed on the state and federal lists in 1973 over concern that the pesticide DDT could thin the shells of nesting eggs, making them more likely to be crushed or broken.
The Federal Fish & Wildlife Service removed the brown pelican from its Florida list in 1985, but the state commission has kept it listed, until now.
“We hadn’t evaluated its status since we put it on the Florida list in the 1970s,” says Haubold. “Now we will be.”
When the new evaluation began in 2007, Haubold’s group considered several factors, including the bird’s rate of decline, the size of its available habitat and the chances that it faced a 10 percent probability of extinction in the next century.
Of 62 species evaluated, none of the 16 removed last month met the criteria.
And now you’re wondering just how many brown pelicans are left?
“Everybody wants the numbers, but that’s a really hard thing to get,” Haubold concedes. “We have a study that says in Florida we had an average of about 9,000 pairs of brown pelicans, 18,000 birds, between 1968 and 2001. But it’s not just about numbers. It’s about population trends, reproduction and how healthy is the population in general. What’s most important for people to know is that we have a new system for conserving threatened species, and it’s going to make a huge difference for them.”
When will the management plan for the brown pelicans be done, and our beloved birds officially removed from the list?
“We haven’t set a timetable,” says Haubold. “We’re working on 62 plans at once.”
But the management plan will be comprehensive, she promises, with input from FWC staff, independent scientists, developers and nonprofit stakeholders such as the South Florida Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, which saves many of the injured birds rescued along Palm Beach County shores.
“We find it encouraging that the state has determined brown pelicans appear to be rebounding to the extent that they no longer meet the criteria for listing as a threatened species,” said Sherry Schlueter, the nonprofit organization’s executive director. But, she adds, while the FWC is developing its management plan, the average citizen has an ongoing part to play.
Brown pelicans spy fish while flying over the water, then dive to catch them in their throat pouches — the only pelican that uses this feeding technique.
Sometime they swallow more dangerous fare.
“Floridians can do much to keep this magnificent neighbor safer by acting responsibly about disposal of fishing hooks, monofilament line, plastic trash and other debris,” Schlueter says.
Kenny Brown agrees. The founder of Brown’s Trapping & Wildlife Rescue estimates he’s brought about 300 brown pelicans to the Wildlife Care Center since 2001, when he found one injured at I-95 and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.
“It does seem they’re coming back,” says Brown, “but I don’t think they should take anything off the list.
“To me, every animal should be a protected
species.” Ú
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