Keep an Eye Out for Pelicans with Wing Tags

[John Neill]

It's that time of year again to see pelicans with green wing tags.  This year on Gunnison Island in Great Salt Lake, 500 juvenile American white pelicans were banded and wing tagged.  We are beginning to receive sightings of these young-of-the-year pelicans as they venture off Gunnison Island.

Please alert us of your sightings to help us track pelican movements both locally and regionally.  You can contact me directly to report your sightings by including date, place, tag code/color, and by whom.  Photos are always appreciated as well.

I encourage you to also report your sightings at reportband.gov though the site can be finicky at times.

Gunnison Island pelicans have a tag on each wing that are green with white writing.  The tags have a three character, alphanumeric code in large type.  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.  There are also a few pelicans with light blue tags with black writing.  These were trapped and banded at Strawberry Reservoir.  In addition, they also have an orange-colored band to go along with their standard aluminum band.

The attached photos show pelicans with green wing tags.

We've also been attaching satellite transmitters to some adult pelicans, and you can view their locations in nearly real time with a cool web map:  http://wildlife.utah.gov/pelican_webmap/

If you would like to learn more about the banding and satellite tracking projects, please visit the Wildlife Blog on the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' website.

http://wildlife.utah.gov/blog/2015/the-low-speed-stampede/

http://wildlife.utah.gov/blog/2016/round-trip-flights-salt-lake-city-to-mazatlan/

Thanks for your help in spotting and reporting theses tagged pelicans!

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)
801-985-3700 (Office)

wildlife.utah.gov/gsl

wildlife.utah.gov/gsl/waterbirdsurvey