West Coast Pelican Problems Accelerating Rapidly Into Major Die-Off - Oregon Live

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Hundreds of California brown pelicans that summer in Oregon and may have waited too long to head south are turning up dead along the West Coast from here to Mexico in what officials say is escalating into a massive die-off. The mouth of the Columbia River houses the largest colony of the endangered pelican species for a nonbreeding site. But some biologists suspect many of the birds were caught by the same December Arctic storm that wreaked havoc across the Northwest, leaving them weak and malnourished as they started their migration to breeding sites in California and Mexico.

The International Bird Rescue Research Center in California has recorded more than 460 dead or ailing brown pelicans in the past month, spokeswoman Rebecca Dmytryk said Wednesday. It's common for some young birds to die as winter sets in, but close to half of the dead or injured pelicans are adults that are well-tested and typically strong enough to survive. "These are proven animals," Dmytryk said. "It's very unusual to have a die-off of adults."

The affected birds are behaving strangely, straying far inland and to high elevations where they have rarely been seen. They appear disoriented and frail, often with injuries to their feet and the distinctive pouches underneath their bills. Some have tested positive for domoic acid, a toxin associated with algae blooms and that can accumulate in shellfish.

This was a record year for California brown pelicans in Oregon, with Oregon State University teams counting 12,395 at the mouth of the Columbia River in September, said Dan Roby, an OSU professor who studies the birds. But the pelicans stayed later than usual, with thousands lingering in mild fall weather into December.

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http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/pelicans_hit_by_major_dieoff.html