Pelicans are large waterbirds known for their distinctive pouched bills. While they may look harmless gliding across the water, some people perceive pelicans as pests or dangerous animals. This article will examine whether pelicans truly pose a threat.
Quick Answers
– Pelicans are not aggressive birds and very rarely attack humans. Their large bills may look intimidating but pelicans use them only to catch fish.
– Pelicans can cause minor property damage with their droppings. Their guano can be quite acidic and corrode buildings, docks, and boats over time.
– Large flocks of pelicans may compete with commercial fishermen for fish stocks. But pelicans’ fish consumption is unlikely to significantly impact populations.
– On very rare occasions, pelicans have caused injuries to humans. But these incidents are anomalies and do not indicate an aggressive or dangerous nature overall.
– Pelicans are protected species and it is illegal to harm or kill them without permits. Non-lethal harassment may be warranted in some cases of property damage.
Are pelicans aggressive?
Pelicans are not generally aggressive birds. Their diet consists almost entirely of fish, and they rarely show interest in interacting with humans or other land animals.
A pelican’s large bill may appear threatening to some people. However, pelicans use their bills solely to catch fish. The pouch underneath allows them to scoop up many fish at once before draining the water out.
Pelicans do not have sharp claws for attacking prey like birds of prey. Their webbed feet are adapted for swimming rather than hunting or self-defense.
While defending nests or young, pelicans may appear somewhat aggressive. They may hiss, snap their bills, or jab at potential threats. However, these behaviors are simply protective instincts.
Overall, pelicans tend to avoid humans and interactions with them. The rare instances of pelicans attacking humans almost always involve the human initiating contact or threatening the bird first.
Pelican attacks on humans
Although extremely rare, there have been a few reported cases of pelicans attacking or injuring humans over the years:
– In 2019, a pelican pecked a woman’s face near a dock in Florida, injuring her and causing bleeding. The woman had reportedly been feeding the pelicans fish scraps when one lunged at her face.
– In 2012, an Australian woman was knocked unconscious when a pelican dove straight at her head. She was hospitalized for several days.
– A few minor incidents involved pelicans pecking or jabbing people with their bills, often when nests or young were being disturbed. The injuries were superficial.
– There are a handful of unverified stories of larger pelicans breaking people’s arms with their bills after being provoked. But details are scarce.
These cases represent extremely rare anomalies rather than any ingrained aggression in pelicans. The birds were likely startled, defending themselves, or competing for food resources.
Considering how rarely they interact with people at all, pelicans clearly do not go looking for human targets to attack or harass. They are not predators of large land animals. Overall, the risk of a pelican attack is extremely low.
Do pelicans damage property?
The biggest area of conflict between pelicans and humans is property damage. Due to their droppings, pelicans can cause mild to moderate damage over time to buildings, boats, docks and piers.
As seabirds, pelicans spend a lot of time resting and roosting near water. Their guano (excrement) is quite acidic. Large accumulations of it can damage paint, wood finishes, and metal surfaces.
Specific problems pelicans may cause include:
– Corrosion of metal railings, beams, window frames on waterside buildings
– Staining and decay of wood docks, seawalls, pilings
– Paint damage on boats, ships, buoys, and ports
The damage is gradual, but the acidity and volume of the guano can be quite detrimental over years. The mess left behind also requires extensive cleanup efforts and costs.
However, pelicans tend to defecate primarily at their resting and roosting sites. These are usually isolated seawalls, offshore pilings, or small islands. Only structures near these sites will sustain regular guano damage.
Deterrents such as noise machines, spikes, netting, or simple harassment are sometimes used to discourage pelicans from repeatedly perching and roosting in problem areas. But total exclusion is difficult given their protected legal status.
Overall, while annoying, the property damage pelicans cause is relatively minor and localized. It does not make them inherently dangerous or harmful overall.
Do pelicans compete with fishermen?
Large flocks of brown pelicans may compete with commercial fishermen over stocks of certain fish species. However, the impact is complex and likely not too detrimental.
Brown pelicans are plunge divers, diving from the air to catch fish near the water’s surface. Their diet consists mainly of menhaden, herring, mullet, sheepshead and other smaller schooling fish found inshore.
In Florida for example, researchers estimated the total annual fish consumption of brown pelicans to be somewhere between 1,500 to 4,500 metric tons.
While this seems like a massive amount, mullet stocks in Florida alone are estimated at 100,000+ metric tons annually. And pelicans take mostly juveniles of fish species, allowing breeding adults to continue reproducing stocks.
Fish like menhaden also feed on algae and help control excessive algae growth. So pelicans may help regulate those food webs.
Finally, brown pelican populations today are just a fraction of what they once were before the adverse effects of DDT pesticide in last century. So their total fish consumption has decreased.
The damage pelicans allegedly cause to commercial fisheries seems overstated. Most fish stocks remain robust despite centuries of pelican presence and predation. And pelicans take mostly small, common forage species.
While localized depletion near pelican roosts is possible, their overall impact on commercial fisheries appears minimal. There are likely other factors at play in any fish population declines.
Do pelicans pose risks to other wildlife?
Through competition and predation, pelicans may influence populations and behaviors of other wildlife species such as:
– Nesting seabirds: Pelicans may compete for safe nesting sites and resources, especially on islands. They have been known to displace other nesting birds through harassment, destruction of eggs/chicks, or sheer territorial behavior. However, this is natural animal competition rather than intentional malice.
– Forage fish: As voracious predators of bait fish, pelicans may contribute to population declines or migration pattern shifts in species like anchovies, menhaden, herring, etc. Again however, their influence is just one factor among many (including human fishing pressure).
– Endangered fish: Very rarely, pelicans may prey on endangered fish species. For example, some brown pelicans in the Everglades target young endangered Peacock bass. But this occurs only in isolated lakes. Pelicans are opportunistic foragers rather than specialists in targeting rare species.
– Sea turtle hatchlings: Pelicans may occasionally prey on emerging turtle hatchlings making their way to the sea. But most predation is by gulls, racoons, foxes, and other land animals. Pelican impacts are likely negligible compared to other forces.
– Seals and sea lions: Large pelicans may very occasionally take pups of seals, sea lions or other marine mammals. Again though, incidents seem extremely rare compared to predation by coyotes, sharks, and other predators.
In general, any influence pelicans have is just part of complex, interconnected food webs. Ecosystems have adapted to coexist with pelicans over eons. They cannot be blamed singularly for declines in any one species without clear evidence. Overall, their impacts seem limited.
Do pelicans spread disease?
There is limited potential for pelicans to spread some avian diseases through their droppings and saliva. But the direct risk to humans is very low.
Some potential concerns include:
– **Salmonella** – Pelican guano may contain salmonella bacteria, as with many wild bird droppings. However transmission to humans is very unlikely without direct physical handling of fresh feces. And salmonellosis risk from gulls for example is considered far higher. Proper sanitation minimizes any risk from pelican guano.
– **Newcastle disease** – This contagious avian virus can occasionally affect pelicans, and spread among congregating bird flocks. But it does not appear to transmit significantly to humans. The last U.S. outbreak was in 2002-2003 and was quickly contained. For poultry farmers, strict biosecurity is more important than worrying about spread from pelicans specifically.
– **Avian influenza** – Wild birds like pelicans are carriers of various bird flu strains. However, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that concerns human health experts is extremely rare in pelicans. They do not seem to be a high-risk species for transmission. Proper cooking of poultry and eggs negates any risk.
– **West Nile virus** – Mosquitos can transmit this virus from infected birds to humans. However pelicans seem fairly resistant to West Nile morbidity and mortality. So they are unlikely to be a significant source of transmission. Mosquito control is a far bigger public health factor.
Overall, while they can carry diseases as all wildlife does, pelicans pose little tangible disease risk to humans. Their presence alone should not be viewed as a public health concern. Any risk factors are minor at most.
Conclusion
Pelicans are majestic seabirds that pose little real harm or danger overall:
– They are not predators of land creatures and very rarely attack people. Their large bills are used mainly to catch fish.
– While pelican guano can damage buildings and boats, the impacts are localized and gradual over time. Deterrents can be used to minimize damage.
– Competition with fishermen for fish stocks seems overstated. Pelican predation does not singularly determine population levels.
– Any influence on other wildlife populations or behaviors is simply part of complex, interconnected ecosystems that include pelicans as natural components.
– Disease risks to humans are extremely low from pelicans, with proper sanitation practices.
Nuisance issues can arise on occasion. But pelicans are important parts of coastal and ocean environments. Their protection and coexistence with humans is both possible and recommended for ecological integrity. With proper perspectives, pelicans do not have to be viewed as harmful pests or threats in any way.
