The American White Pelican is a majestic bird seldom reported from inland locations in Georgia. Though there are small resident breeding populations in Texas and Mexico, the majority of this species are annual migrants moving between breeding grounds in freshwater lakes in west central Canada and the northwestern United States and their wintering grounds, primarily along the Gulf and lower Pacific coasts of the U. S., Mexico, and parts of Central America. Moving diurnally in mixed-sex formations of up to about 200 birds, many of these groups follow major river valleys and may stop over for a night, seldom longer, en route at habitats similar to those used for foraging and “loafing” during breeding season, namely lakes, marshes, and rivers.

All this considered, it doesn’t seem surprising that Stephen Stewart reported a group of six birds in flight over the Berry College campus on 12 Nov 2003 heading southwest, nor that I found them at 8:00 AM the next day at Garden Lakes, a shallow 37-acre lake, which, though situated in the midst of a tight little ring of houses and surrounded by a heavily used walking path, nonetheless hosts several hundred wintering waterfowl each year. However, the Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds lists this species as accidental in the Piedmont, and there are no records for the mountains. Perhaps the birds are still moving southward when they arrive at this latitude. Steve Holzman speculated in a 12 Nov post to GABO-L that the Florida population makes a “straight shot” south in the fall and then follows the Gulf Coast to winter sites. And Sheila Willis, also in a 12 Nov GABO-L post, quotes Arthur Cleveland Bent: “From its breeding grounds in the fresh water lakes of the interior, the white pelican migrates southward in fall through the interior valleys of our large rivers, lingering to feed or rest along the way and finally spreads out both east and west to spend the winter along our warmer sea coasts.”

The pelicans had departed by about 9:30 AM when other observers arrived in search of them and were not seen again. An account of this visit appeared in the local newspaper along with my statement that in the 60 years of data I have gathered from various sources for Floyd Co., this species had never been documented; this prompted one or two anecdotal reports from people saying “someone” saw this species back in “some” year. Of course, it’s possible that American White Pelicans are more common in this area in migration than we realize, though they could hardly be called inconspicuous birds and it’s hard to imagine them slipping past too many observers!

Other wintering waterfowl in place at Garden Lakes on the 13th include the following: Pied billed Grebe (4), American Wigeon (74), Gadwall (12), Ring-necked Duck (70), American Coot (~300).

References:
Beaton, R.G., Sykes, P.W., Jr., and Parrish, J.W., Jr. 2003. Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds. Georgia Ornithological Society.

Bent, A.C. 1964 (1922). Life Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and their Allies. Dover Publications, Inc., New York.

Evans, R.M. and F.L. Knopf. 1993. American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhyncos). In The Birds of North America, No. 57 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia PA.

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