Peruvian Pelicans Pelecanus thagus

Peruvian pelicans are the largest seabird breeding in Peru. They used to be considered as a sub-species of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) inhabiting Galapagos, Center and North America. However, Peruvian Pelicans have been assigned to a different species because of their well-defined allopatry and because they are much larger and heavier than their relatives. Like Guanay Cormorants and Peruvians boobies, Peruvian Pelicans are considered as guano producer seabird because of their large populations and their nesting habits. However, their number has decreased drastically in the last decades.

At the beginning of the 1990s, it was common to see large number of pelicans nesting at Punta San Juan, Punta Coles, Isla La Vieja and Isla Lobos de Tierra, but at present only a few thousands can be seen in these sites. They feed on anchovies, but can capture larger fish, occasionally feed at night and under conditions of severe food shortages they can scavenge for fish in fishing terminals. 

At Punta San Juan, breeding takes place during the austral spring-summer (September-March). Settlement and courtship begin in mid-September. Three eggs represent the commonest clutch size. Laying is asynchronous, spreading from October to February, but a peak of laying seems to occur between mid-November and early December. Pairs nest in discrete groups of different sizes, ranging from ten to several hundreds. The majority of chicks hatch between late December and early January. It seems that creching of chicks can take place when they are three to four weeks old. From the last week of March onwards, chicks disperse to beaches or to the tops of cliffs for their first flight. Post-fledging feeding has been observed. Chicks fledge in average at 85 days of age with a mean asymptote body mass of 6700 g. However, a maximum mass of 7300 g can be reached at 54 days after hatching.

Drastic decline of Peruvian Pelican numbers in Peru deserve research. Competition with commercial fisheries for anchovies may be one of the main causes for this reduction and consumption of chicks and adults by  fishermen in some localities may be also another factor to be considered.