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Given the hardships the Brown Pelican has faced and survived, it makes a great mascot for Earth Day, proving the fight for our environment matters. When the Brown Pelican became the official state bird of Louisiana in 1966, not one breeding pelican was left in all of Louisiana.
The first threat that nearly decimated the Brown Pelican population involved, of all things, ladies’ hats. In the late 1800’s, decorating hats with feathers was the rage. It started with a feather or two, then a wing, and then entire birds stuffed and wired to perch on hats as if in flight. On occasion twigs, leaves, and dead rodents were added for realism. One ornithologist, a person who studies birds, estimated that five million birds were massacred every year for their feathers. Pure white feathers were worth more than gold. Luckily for the pelican and the 66 other species of birds at risk of extinction, a group of women organized a movement to save the birds. They were the first conservation group in the United States, and their efforts led to the creation of the Audubon Society. Resulting laws protected birds from hunters and saved the Brown Pelican. Until-- A new threat nearly wiped out the Brown Pelican in the mid-1900’s. Pesticides used by farmers were draining into the Mississippi River, poisoning the fish pelicans fed on. If the pesticides didn’t outright kill the pelicans—which it did in devastating numbers—the poison caused the pelicans to lay soft, brittle eggs that broke when the birds sat on them. Once the deadly pesticides were banned, the pelican population slowly began to recover. Until— In 2010, one year after Brown Pelicans were removed from the endangered species list, their rookeries, or nesting places, were ground zero for the largest marine oil spill to date when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil fouled the rookeries and coated the pelicans. Diving for fish through the oil slick saturated their feathers. No longer buoyant, many pelicans drowned. Preening their feathers to rid themselves of the toxic goo led to organ failure. Wildlife first-responders managed to rescue 582 Brown Pelicans. And with those rescues, the population began to increase. Until-- Climate change. Louisiana is losing a football field of land every 60 minutes. Rising sea levels are flooding the rookeries, submerging whole islands. There are few places in the world losing land faster than Louisiana. Money from Deepwater Horizon’s legal settlement is helping to restore some of the islands, but the battle is uphill. In five years, the Brown Pelican may be facing extinction again when their Louisiana habitat is completely underwater. Who will rescue them then? We will! Earth Day proves there are still millions of us who care about the future of the planet. Make your voice heard!
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