In some years, changes in ocean conditions ripple quickly through the California Brown Pelican population, sending waves of weakened birds to wildlife rehabilitation centers along the coast. During these periods, International Bird Rescue has received hundreds of pelicans in just a few months, some of them young birds still learning to feed themselves and adults affected by environmental stressors.
In the last three weeks, Bird Rescue has seen dozens of starving and injured seabirds in Southern California, including Brown Pelicans, Common Murres, and Brandt’s Cormorants. This surge highlights that more waves of weakened birds may appear as the season unfolds.
Each year, Brown Pelicans gather in large colonies to breed along the southern end of their Pacific Coast range, and their success is closely tied to the health of the ocean. Changing forage fish availability, pollution, and extreme weather events can all affect both adults and chicks throughout the breeding season.
The exact cause of these influxes is not yet clear, but it reflects a larger story about birds in a changing world: as ocean conditions shift and prey becomes less predictable, seabirds like the Brown Pelican face growing challenges.
Breeding Timing Varies
The timing of Brown Pelican breeding can vary widely from year to year, largely reflecting their dependence on ocean conditions. Historically, nesting season began in late March and extended through late summer or early fall, but in recent years, it has often surpassed 11 months, according to the National Park Service. When fish such as anchovies and sardines are abundant near breeding colonies, birds may begin nesting earlier or continue raising chicks later into the year.
Many pelican breeding colonies along the Pacific Coast are located on remote islands, including the Channel Islands off Southern California and islands along Baja California. These locations provide protection from predators and minimize disturbance. Human presence and loud noises can cause adults to abandon their nests. Because of this, many important pelican nesting areas are protected or closed to visitors during the breeding season.
When chicks hatch, they are featherless and completely dependent on their parents. Keeping up with the demands of hungry chicks requires a steady supply of fish. Once they fledge, their hunting skills are refined over time. This is a particularly risky time if they don’t catch enough fish or face stiff competition for food.
Surges in Pelican Admissions
For wildlife rehabbers, poor food years often coincide with increased numbers of pelicans arriving exhausted, underweight, injured, or found in unusual locations away from the coast. Most recently in March 2025, Bird Rescue began receiving a surge of Brown Pelicans that began in Southern California and soon extended north. The birds coming into care were a mix of fledglings struggling to find food and adult pelicans affected by domoic acid poisoning, a naturally occurring toxin produced by algae.
Similar starvation events have been documented periodically over the years, including 2024, 2022, and 2012. The primary cause of the 2024 stranding event was due to lack of adequate food resources, according to an official summary of the event, led by researchers including Dr. Rebecca Duerr, Senior Director of Research and Veterinary Science for Bird Rescue. Though the population of the fish they eat was reported to be abundant, it’s possible that they may have been unavailable to pelicans based on local distribution, whether they were too far offshore or too deep for pelicans to access.
Rehabilitation as Conservation
Despite the pressures of variable fish availability, competition, and human impacts like oil, pollution, and habitat disturbance, Brown Pelicans have shown remarkable resilience.
A 2023 study by Dr. Duerr and colleagues tracked 1,418 Brown Pelicans rehabilitated and released with blue bands between 2009 and 2019. Annual survival rates averaged 83%. Some birds have been re-sighted more than 14 years after rehabilitation, surpassing what scientists previously believed possible for the species.
These results speak to both the effectiveness of rehabilitation and the potential of pelicans when given a second chance. As ocean conditions shift, this long-term tracking data becomes even more important, helping guide care, conservation, and strategies to ensure more birds can thrive along the Pacific Coast.