Hello,
We have been busy since my last blog post, as most of our chicks have reached 3 weeks of age and banding time began again! I discussed what goes into banding and taking chick measurements in a blog post last year, ‘A blue band here, a blue band there’ (which you should definitely check out if you want to know some more specifics of everything that goes into getting measurements and banding our pelican chicks). For any new fans (or those who don’t want to scroll down and read more, no judgement here!), we measure the chicks in order to assess their health and growth so far, and band them with metal and color bands to aid in our identification of individuals as the chicks continue to mature and begin moving around the colony. Our bands will also be used when the chicks fledge and leave the island in late July/early August to continue to identify individuals and give us information about their whereabouts as they continue to mature to adulthood. We’ve had a few resights of imatures from last year already, from Florida to Mexico, so who knows where else they might go or where our 2018 chicks will fly to when they fledge!
We have been busy since my last blog post, as most of our chicks have reached 3 weeks of age and banding time began again! I discussed what goes into banding and taking chick measurements in a blog post last year, ‘A blue band here, a blue band there’ (which you should definitely check out if you want to know some more specifics of everything that goes into getting measurements and banding our pelican chicks). For any new fans (or those who don’t want to scroll down and read more, no judgement here!), we measure the chicks in order to assess their health and growth so far, and band them with metal and color bands to aid in our identification of individuals as the chicks continue to mature and begin moving around the colony. Our bands will also be used when the chicks fledge and leave the island in late July/early August to continue to identify individuals and give us information about their whereabouts as they continue to mature to adulthood. We’ve had a few resights of imatures from last year already, from Florida to Mexico, so who knows where else they might go or where our 2018 chicks will fly to when they fledge!
While we have been very busy with banding, we have also been collecting diet samples and completing attendance surveys. Our diet samples have not been processed yet but I have noticed that we are seeing a lot more species than last year. In 2017 most fish species were Gulf Menhaden, but we have already collected a real variety of different species in diet samples and barely any Gulf Menhaden! It will be interesting to see if that changes as the season goes on and the chicks mature.
We also survey our nests for 3 hours from a safe distance whenever we have a chance (which hasn’t been a lot recently with banding and bad weather). We approach as hidden as possible and use our binoculars to observe the nests so as to not disturb the natural behavior of the Brown Pelicans, and then record the adult attendance at the nest. The adults are almost always on the nest as long as there are eggs or young chicks, though they do switch off and take turns protecting their young from the elements. Now, as most chicks are becoming mobile and starting to run around the plots, the adults attend them less and less but still come by to feed them and occasionally hang out at the nest. It’s fun to watch the adults and chicks interact with each other, especially when the chicks beg and harass the adults for food!
Here’s to many more surveys as the season continues!
Rochelle
Rochelle