Composition of diet of juvenile Brown Pelican in the northern Gulf of Mexico (2013-2015)

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 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.
This dataset summarizes diet composition and mass of meals delivered to chicks throughout the chick-rearing period, from hatch (late April) through fledging (early August) in 10 breeding colonies from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. We collected regurgitated meals from chicks opportunistically during regular visits to the colony (every 5 – 7 days). Samples were stored frozen. In the laboratory, we identified to the species, weighed and measured each individual fish. Detailed methods may be found in the associated publication.