Brown pelican sighted along Cape Cod Bay

Eric Williams, Cape Cod Times
·2 min read

While Cape Cod sees a lot of visitors in the summer, brown pelicans usually aren't part of the mix. But one has been sighted along Cape Cod Bay in recent days, according to Mark Faherty, science coordinator for the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

"They're not common here," he said. "We get them now and again."

Faherty said he thinks that sightings at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, Jeremy Point in Wellfleet and Race Point in Provincetown are likely of the same pelican.

A brown pelican flies into the wild at Corona Del Mar State Beach in Newport Beach, California, on June 17. The 12 brown pelicans were victims of the recent Southern California mass-stranding event. Damian Dovarganes/AP
A brown pelican flies into the wild at Corona Del Mar State Beach in Newport Beach, California, on June 17. The 12 brown pelicans were victims of the recent Southern California mass-stranding event. Damian Dovarganes/AP

Because of the bird's instantly recognizable appearance, with a long neck and large bill, even wildlife amateurs have an easy time identifying it.

"It's always exciting and you don't have to be a birder," he said.

According to the Cape Cod Times archive, a handful of brown pelican sightings occurred in these parts after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, including one that was treated for pneumonia at Wild Care in Eastham and did not survive. A happier outcome occurred shortly thereafter when another brown pelican that was successfully treated at Wild Care was flown to a rehabilitation sanctuary in Florida in Dec. 2012.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website reports that: "Brown pelicans feed by plunging into the water, stunning small fish with the impact of their large bodies and scooping them up in their expandable throat pouches. When not foraging, pelicans stand around fishing docks, jetties, and beaches or cruise the shoreline."

According to Cornell, the usual range of Atlantic brown pelicans runs roughly from northern South America to the southern United States. Some pelican populations "disperse northward in the summer after breeding and return southward in autumn, probably to follow concentrations of fish."

An eBird Observations map from the last five years shows brown pelican sightings occurring along the New England coast and as far north as Nova Scotia.

Faherty said he suspects that for now, the pelican should be able to prosper on the Cape, as long as it is healthy.

"It's in a perfectly good place as long as it leaves at some point," he said. "We've got plenty of fish."

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Atlantic brown pelican makes a splash along Cape Cod Bay