On a jagged coastline in Central California, brown pelicans gather on rock promontories, packed in like edgy commuters as they take flight to feed on a vast school of fish just offshore. The water churns in whitecaps as the big-billed birds plunge beneath the surface in search of northern anchovies, Pacific sardines and mackerel.
If awkward and wobbly in appearance on land, they are graceful once airborne. The signature pouch dangling beneath the lower bill can scoop up to 3 gallons of water with every dip into the ocean — the largest pouch of any bird in the world.
It is what scientists call a “feeding frenzy.” And it is an encouraging sign for a bird that has struggled in recent years with a warming ocean, inconsistent breeding patterns and toxic algae blooms in Southern California.
“I would say the populations are somewhat stable, but some events are concerning,” says marine ornithologist Tammy Russell, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The gorging seabirds are a “good sign for the marine environment,” Russell said.
On this warm, clear day, thousands of birds have populated the nearby beaches and cliffs, drawn by the abundant food. Cormorants and gulls mix with the pelicans. The incessant roar of the waves and the chorus of bird cries are all that can be heard on this jutting jawbone of coast.
The bird’s range along the Pacific coast extends from British Columbia, Canada, into Mexico. In their struggle for survival, Russell notes that the California brown pelican was once on the federal endangered species list, after a sharp population decline was attributed to the pesticide DDT, which causes eggshell thinning. The population recovered, and the bird was removed from the list in 2009, though it still faces multiple challenges.
They are large birds, with adults weighing about 8 pounds with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet. And because they are big, they need large volumes of fish each day, their favorite food.
"When they don’t get that, they can crash pretty quickly," Russell noted.
If the water warms, fish can move into deeper, colder water, making it more difficult for the birds to feed. Last year, scores of sick and starving pelicans were found in coastal California communities, and many others died. Wildlife authorities were baffled in 2022 when large numbers of California brown pelicans were found sick and dying.
Earlier this year, a toxic algae bloom poisoned pelicans and other marine animals along the coast.
Scientists are still learning how the birds react to changes in their environment, Russell said. They are now using electronic leg bands to follow the birds in their travels.
As the big birds gradually head south to islands off the California coast or Mexico to breed, “it's encouraging to see a group of pelicans feeding and doing well,” Russell said.
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