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Brown pelicans’ birds, nests, and eggs are found in 13 states and are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Look for them in estuaries and coastal waters along the east and west coasts of the United States.
Specifically, in the United States, brown pelicans are located along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Outside the country, brown pelicans exist in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indes.
They eat small fish, such as menhaden, mullet, anchovies, and herring. To catch their food, brown pelicans dive from as high as 40 to 65 feet in the air, scooping a fish into their bills. Often gulls or terns will try to steal fish out of a pelican’s bill.
Brown pelicans lay two to four white eggs during breeding season, and they can live more than 30 years. Their main threats are water pollution and hypothermia and drowning when feathers absorb too much water.
Identifying Features
Adult brown pelicans are a large dark gray-brown water bird which is white around the head and neck. They have large bills suitable for scooping fish out of the water. They can reach up to eight pounds with wing spans more than seven feet long. Young pelicans are gray-brown above and on the neck, with white underparts.
Where can I see brown pelicans?
Brown pelicans also can be seen at several refuges along the east and west coasts of the United States and the Caribbean, visit here and click on the map’s blue goose symbols for the names of these refuges.
Some of the most notable refuges include:
- Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL - The refuge was created in 1903 to safeguard the last remaining nesting habitat for brown pelicans and other wading birds on America’s East Coast. It also serves to protect endangered and threatened species, and to provide feeding, nesting, and roosting areas for over 130 species of birds.
- Breton Island National Wildlife Refuge, LA - Breton National Wildlife Refuge provides breeding habitat for colonies of wading birds and seabirds and wintering habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl. Fun fact, the brown pelican is Louisiana's state bird!
Brown Pelican Photo Contest
As part of our Bird of the Month series, we invite you to submit your photos of brown pelicans in a photo contest.
**In the file name of your photo, please include your first and last name, contact email address, and the location where the photo was taken. If these components are missing, we will have no way of contacting you if you win.**
Submissions will be judged by a panel of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees. Once a winner is selected, they will be contacted via email and asked to sign a photo release form. This form protects the photographer's rights, ensures proper credits are given, and grants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permission to share the photo on our social media channels. Please monitor your junk/spam folders towards the end of the month in the event that we reach out and our email lands there.
The winner will be announced publicly near the end of each month on our Southeast Regional Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) platforms.
A photo contest will occur each month for each featured bird species. At the end of 2025, all twelve winning photographs will be shared on our regional social media accounts.
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