Brown Pelican Utilization Distribution, Breeding Season, Northern Gulf of Mexico, 2013-2015

The Eastern Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis) is a large-bodied seabird that nests in colonies of 10 to upwards of 5,000 pairs, on nearshore barrier islands in subtropical and tropical North American waters. It breeds between March and August, laying 2-3 eggs and raising 1-2 chicks per year. The species is facultatively migratory during nonbreeding, with some individuals remaining resident and others leaving breeding areas. Pelicans forage in near- and offshore waters and capture schooling fish by plunge-diving. We collected data on breeding adult movements at six colonies in the Northern Gulf of Mexico between 83 degrees and 98 degrees W and 27 degrees and 31 degrees N. This item holds utilization distributions of Brown Pelicans breeding in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas), as a GeoTiff rasters of resolution 0.0005 degrees x 0.0005 degrees (WGS84, un-projected), or 50m x 50m (NAD83: GRS80).