Request: Please report American White Pelicans with wing tags
Jason Beason
I have been asked to pass along this request from researchers to the north:
We are getting a bit late in the season for pelicans, but we are still seeing young of the year pelicans in the wetlands surrounding Great Salt Lake. When you see pelicans keep an eye out for green wing tags on these birds. This year on Gunnison Island in Great Salt Lake 540 juvenile American white pelicans were banded and wing tagged on both wings.
Reporting your sightings to reportband.gov will help us track pelican movements both locally and regionally. At the end of last month we had one of the pelicans banded this year turn up west of Fort Collins, Colorado.
The tags are green with white writing and have a three character, alphanumeric code in large type. Above the code is the word "UTAH" in small letters. You may also see red or black wing tags on the right wing only. These pelicans were banded in Idaho at Minidoka NWR and Blackfoot Reservoir, respectively.
Thanks,
John Neill
Avian Biologist
Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
4790 S 7500 W
Hooper, Utah 84315
801-231-2019 (Cell)
wildlife.utah.gov/gsl
wildlife.utah.gov/gsl/waterbirdsurvey
Special Monitoring Projects Coordinator
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory