A brown pelican standing on a rock by Fort Amsterdam. (Saskia Werner photo).
COLE BAY–The St. Maarten Nature Foundation has announced that it will determine the local population of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) in the coming months. This will be done by counting the number of pelicans at several important locations around the island.
The foundation has been monitoring pelican numbers since 2010, and it said the new data will be compared to those of past years. According to the foundation, the annual data is necessary to create a long-term study on local pelican health, numbers, and threats to the species.
This year’s data collection will be led by Saskia Werner, a university student who is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, Germany.
The number of adult and juvenile pelicans will be recorded monthly. The number of nests and chicks, as well as their distribution, will be also be studied.
“In nature it is normal to see fluctuations in population sizes for bird species, which often depends on the predator-prey relationship and always oscillates between a high and lower population size. However, if a dropping population trend continues for a longer time period, our bird population could be threatened and other reasons, such as human influences, could be the cause for their decrease,” said Werner.
The easiest way to determine the size of a bird population is to count in the early morning hours, said the foundation. Based on two different types of counting, the foundation says it can record all pelicans and nests in one morning.
Around St. Maarten/St. Martin Day, November 11, the foundation says it will complete a pelican count at several locations to get an overview of the population size for the Dutch side. The data will then be analysed to determine the pelican’s abundance and distribution.
“The brown pelican is an important bird species to St. Maarten as it is the national bird and is featured on our flag. Pelicans can be found everywhere on the island, especially close to water, such as in the Great Salt Pond in Philipsburg as well as on Fort Amsterdam next to Great Bay and Little Bay,” said the foundation on Tuesday.
The most important spot for brown pelicans in St. Maarten is the rocks of Fort Amsterdam because this is where most of the Dutch side’s breeding colonies are, said the foundation, adding that this was why Fort Amsterdam was chosen as the main location of the foundation’s pelican research project.
At full size, brown pelicans can have a wingspan of over two metres/six feet. The brown pelican is also the smallest pelican species and the only species that dives to catch its prey. It is distinguished by its long bill (up to 30 centimetres long) and a large pouch which can store three times as much food as its stomach can.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/92084-nature-foundation-to-research-local-brown-pelican-population
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