St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
St. Marks, Florida
Nov 2019

Brown pelican by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The brown pelican is now a staple of crowded coastal regions. The brown pelican is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. In the 1993 film The Pelican Brief, based on the novel by John Grisham, a legal brief speculates that the assassins of two supreme court justices were motivated by a desire to drill for oil on a Louisiana marshland, a protected habitat of the brown pelican.

Brown pelican


The brown pelican is a strictly marine species, primarily inhabiting marine subtidal, warm estuarine, and marine pelagic waters. It is also found in mangrove swamps, and prefers shallow waters, especially near salty bays and beaches. It avoids the open sea, seldom venturing more than 20 miles from the coast.

Brown pelican


Digital images shared in this post were captured in RAW using an EOS 5DIII and the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II along with the Extender EF 2x III. The camera / lens were mounted to a RRS gimbal head and tripod. Processing was performed in Lightroom and noise processing in Topaz DeNoise6.

Brown pelican


The brown pelican lives on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts in the Americas. On the Atlantic Coast, it is found from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Amazon River.

Brown pelican


The brown pelican is a monogamous breeder within a breeding season, but does not pair for life. Nesting season peaks during March and April. The male chooses a nesting site and performs a display of head movements to attract a female.

Brown pelican


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