A blue band here, a blue band there

Hello!
It’s Rochelle again, still working with the Brown pelicans down in the Mobile Bay. We are currently waiting for tropical storm Cindy to move along so we can get back out to the islands, but despite the rain, we have been collecting lots of data since my last post! All our cameras are working away taking photos of the adult Brown Pelicans caring for their chicks, and our dataloggers have been steadily recording the temperature in the nest during the chicks’ development. The most exciting thing that has happened since my last blog post is that most our chicks have hatched and been steadily growing ever since! It has been great watching them develop from small and pink to large and downy, with more and more brown feathers growing in every day. 

​Recently, we have been measuring and banding the chicks. When they are approximately 3 weeks old, we grab the chicks, paying close attention to the bill and wings, and put them into breathable cloth bags. Once they are in the bag, we first weigh them and then begin taking measurements. The length of the tarsus, the full foot to the end of the claws, the wing, the culmen (which is upper ridge of a bird’s bill), and the full head from tip of the bill to the back of the head, are all measured during this time. Weight and measurements have been used extensively in the past to assess the condition of chicks by biologists, and there is a lot of past data to compare to. We will compare the data we collected on Gaillard and Cat islands to past Brown pelican chick information to assess the condition of our chicks. My technician Taylor and I have a certain system to the measuring and recording these measurements so we don’t mix up our numbers, but it takes careful work and staying on the same page with each other. After measuring is complete, we then collect a few feathers from each chick. As some of you may remember from this blog, Juliet Lamb and the Pelican Project previously found that the stress hormone levels in feathers of Brown pelican chicks were indicative of their condition and survival. We are collecting feathers to use this awesome technique to assess the stress levels and condition of our chicks this season as well. 

Once they know you, pelican chicks can be very nice!

Taylor and her new best friend, on Cat Island.

​Once the chicks have lost a few feathers, we give them some new bling in the form of leg bands. Leg bands are often used on birds to identify individuals and with a big bird with large legs such as the Brown Pelican, leg bands are very easy to spot and read at a distance. Each chick receives two bands, a metal one and a blue plastic one. The metal band is an official band from the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL). The plastic color bands are blue with 3 large white letters that you can easily read from a distance and will allow us to easily identify our chicks: within the past week, our chicks have become increasingly mobile, all running together into a shrub when we arrive, so the color bands allow us to pick out which chicks are ours when they are no longer staying on the nest.

Two proud chicks! (Can you read the codes on the bands?)

​While handing, measuring, and banding these not-so-little chicks have led to more an a few scratches on our arms, it is wonderful to collect this important data and watch our chicks continue to grow and mature. With bands on their legs, it is great to see them moving around the islands now as they continue to grow their flight feathers. Hopefully the rain moves on soon and our chicks (and us!) have some more sunny days!

​Rochelle

Sunrise at the Buccaneer Yacht Club.

​Sightings of bird bands are collected nationally and allow for birds to be tracked across the Gulf, wherever they may be observed and reported.
If you see one of our blue-banded pelican, you can report it directly on our website.
If you observe other birds with leg bands, you can send the code written on the band to the BBL. The BBL will ask you for the location of the sighting: you will then receive a certificate letting you know where and when the bird was banded; and the scientist who banded it, will receive news of your sighting! A real win-win situation!