[mou] white pelicans in carver county continued

[Kathryn Young]

Hi all - The following is good information on White Pelicans from  
Jeff Matteo, Bemidjii.  He bands the Pelicans and has worked with  
them for over 5 years.  He had these very informative comments  
regarding mine and Craig's recent posts on possible young pelicans at  
Tiger Lake in Carver County.  Kathryn Young Mpls

>> Hi Kathryn,
>>
>> Thanks for your response.  Based on Craig's description, I'd  
>> guess  he is right
>> and those were all adult pelicans.  Young of the year do not get   
>> black feathers
>> on their heads.  One year old pelicans do not return north to   
>> breeding areas
>> their first summer, and instead stay on traditional wintering   
>> areas.  Two year
>> old pelicans do return north, but do not breed and just roam in   
>> groups away from
>> breeding colonies.  White pelicans are thought to breed at three   
>> years of age,
>> but a number of us working with pelicans don't think that's  
>> always  the case.
>> During the courting and early breeding season, adult pelicans  
>> have  white plumes
>> on top of their heads, but that begins to molt after eggs are  
>> layed  and by the
>> time they are feeding young most have black feathers on the top  
>> and  back of
>> their heads (some quite extensive).  They also grow a "knob" on   
>> their bill in
>> the spring, that also drops off when they have young.  However,   
>> even nonbreeding
>> two year old birds grow the knob and develop the white plumes  
>> that  are lost
>> during the summer, so it's pretty hard to tell a breeding from a   
>> nonbreeding
>> bird.  I don't know if the one year old birds that stay south get   
>> those
>> characteristics their first year.  Young of the year can have a   
>> somewhat yellow
>> bill, but it generally is much duller and drab than the yellow of   
>> an adult.
>>
>> Anyway, no, I don't live near the Twin Cities, I live up in   
>> Bemidji.  But I work
>> with pelicans breeding in Minnesota from the Iowa border to the   
>> Canadian border.
>>
>> Thanks again for the information!
>>
>> -Jeff
>>
>>
>>> Hi Jeff - I was with Craig Mandel (an excellent and well known  
>>> birder
>>> here in MN) he took some pictures and here are his conclusions of
>>> what we saw.
>>> Jeff do you live around the Twin Cities?  kathryn young
>>>
>>>
>>> Just getting a chance to post the birds that Kathryn and I   
>>> observed on
>>> Monday, in SW Minnesota.
>>> 7:00 am - 3:00 pm
>>>
>>> Carver County
>>> American White Pelican - Tiger Lake
>>> There was a large congregation of American White Pelicans on Tiger
>>> Lake on
>>> Monday.  Including many full white adult and molting adult American
>>> White
>>> Pelicans.  There were also several birds that I thought may have  
>>> been
>>> immature birds.  I took some nice pictures of those birds and  
>>> came to
>>> the
>>> conclusion that they were pictures of adult American White Pelicans.
>>> The
>>> key field mark I used for what I believe to be the correct id was
>>> there bill
>>> color, which was Yellow.  What led me to think these birds were   
>>> probably
>>> immature birds was the amount of Black on there heads and back.  I
>>> did not
>>> recall seeing adults with completely Black heads and thick black  
>>> neck
>>> lines.
>>> I did get a chance to check my pictures this afternoon and a   
>>> number of
>>> different reference books.  None of them show an adult American  
>>> White
>>> Pelican with the amount of black these birds had, they all show the
>>> immature
>>> with a Gray bill.  The Yellow bills seem to be consistent with adult
>>> birds.
>>> I am also familiar with the small number of locations in  
>>> Minnesota  that
>>> American White Pelicans nest and had hoped to add another.  But  
>>> no  such
>>> luck.
>>>
>>> On Jul 15, 2008, at 9:00 PM, Jeff DiMatteo wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Kathryn,
>>>>
>>>> Your listserv posting was forwarded to me.  I've been banding
>>>> pelicans for a number of years in five other Minnesota colonies.
>>>> To the best of my knowledge, there is no recent history of pelicans
>>>> nesting on Tiger Lake in Carver County, but prior to European
>>>> settlement, anything could have been possible.  I do, however, have
>>>> a vague memory that there may have been an unsuccessful nesting
>>>> attempt elsewhere in Carver County around 20 years ago.  It is
>>>> quite common for pelicans to attempt to establish new colonies in a
>>>> variety of locations, and even though they may successfully raise
>>>> young some years, most of those attempts eventually fail.  For
>>>> example, around 20 pairs raised a dozen young on Artichoke Lake in
>>>> Big Stone County two years ago, but those birds never returned.
>>>> The source of these birds may be other successful Upper Midwest
>>>> pelican colonies that add new breeders to the population every
>>>> year, or some may be displaced birds from the Chase Lake, North
>>>> Dakota colony that has been experiencing serious problems the past
>>>> several years.
>>>>
>>>> The main reason I'm writing is to ask if you could provide any
>>>> information on approximately how many birds (pairs) you saw nesting
>>>> at Tiger Lake?  Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>> -Jeff DiMatteo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Craig Mandel and I were birding the County's of Carver, McLeod,
>>>>> Nicollet and Sibley today, came upon White Pelicans and their
>>>>> young  at Tiger Lake in Carver Cty on Hwy 212 NW of Norwood Young
>>>>> America.   Does anyone know if the White Pelican has been known to
>>>>> breed and  raise their young on this lake in MN?    Thanks----
>>>>> Kathryn Young
>>>>>
>>>>