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It lives strictly on coasts from Washington and Cape Cod to the mouth of the Amazon River. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move further north along the coasts in flocks, returning to warmer waters for winter.

This bird is distinguished from the American White Pelican by its brown body and its habit of diving for fish from the air, as opposed to cooperative fishing from the surface. It dines mostly on herring-like fish. Groups of these birds often travel in single file, flying low over the water's surface.

The nest location varies from a simple scrape on the ground on an island to a bulky stick nest in a low tree. These birds nest in colonies, usually on islands.

Pesticides like DDT and dieldrin threatened its future in the southwest United States and California in the early 1970s. Pesticides also threatened the pelican population in Florida in this time period. A research group from the University of Tampa headed up by Dr. Ralph Schreiber conducted research in the Tampa Bay/St Petersburg area and found that DDT caused the pelican eggshells to be overly-thin and incapable of supporting the embryo to maturity. As a result of this research, DDT usage was eliminated in Florida and the rest of the country.

There are four subspecies:

Pelecanus occidentalis californicus (California brown pelican)
Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis
Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766
Pelecanus occidentalis thagus
It is the state bird of Louisiana.

The Brown Pelican is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1972.

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