A Brown Pelican Record from Utah
A Brown Pelican Record from Utah
While visiting with a group of ornithology students, April 28, 1934, at the Rudy Duck Club near the mouth of the Jordan River on the southeast shore of Great Salt Lake, we observed a flock of about 20 to 30 White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) among which was a pelican of brown plumage distinctly contrasting with the other birds, which we concluded must be a Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). We observed the bird in the flock several times during the day, but could not be sure of the subspecies. However, because of its size, closely approaching that of the White Pelican, and because it was with other birds that had probably come up from the southwest coast, we leaned to the belief that it was a California Brown Pelican (P. o. californicus).
A. M. Woodbury
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, June 15, 1937
