Along the shore of Lake Winnebago at Kimberly Point a few American White Pelicans have made a spring stop over. They are probably on their way to Green Bay or Terrell's Island outside Omro. Both places have a breeding colony of these birds.

Fisherman are always blaming these and other fish eating birds on the loss of perch..Roy Lukes did an article a while back and had some good facts about that problem. He states "careful studies in the past have shown that less than 1% of the pelicans food is fish edible by people. Mostly rough fish and other amphibians, with very few game fish, make up the bulk of their diet".

They nest on the ground and can lay up to four eggs, two is the average. The young spend four or five weeks in or near the nest. Finally they gather in groups called creches or pods.

In September the birds leave their nesting ground and head south. Thanks to a 30 year banding study biologists now know that the pelicans nesting in the Minnesota area overwinter in Mexico, Texas, and other Gulf states. Tom Erdman from Green Bay bands the young on Cat Island in Green Bay each year.


**Copyright 2008 fisher**