To be honest Iam not certain. They used to keep the Pelicans in an open-topped penned enclosure on part of the lake which would have meant they were probably either pinioned or wing clipped then , however these could be different birds ? They have not been put in the aviary because they are full winged(?), although they could be of course, they were just moved there as the aviary was vacant and it was somewhere to house the Pelicans convienently.
As with all the waterfowl on the lake, there was trouble with feral Mink, hence the move to an aviary well away from the main body of water. Yes, Mink will even tackle Pelicans [and Flamingos]
But leaving them fully-winged is less effort than clipping them, no?
It's only if they've been permanently pinioned at any point that an aviary bird wouldn't be fully winged after a year, because if they're staying in the aviary there's no need to clip when the new feathers come in.
It never ceases to amaze me how people can criticise animal accommodation without any practical experience of the species concerned. the test of any enclosure is how comfortable the animal is in it.
