Pelican breeding in the UK

[Steve Robinson]

Ice

There were none on the lake but I gather they were all rescued from the ice a week or so ago and are still off show.

Is that true Gigit? Ice on the lake at Paignton?

When we were there in August 2006 it did not seem possible that Paignton would ever experience snow or ice.

 

[Jana]

Sex ratio may also be a problem, but pelicans are notoriously difficult to sex - bill length can be one way.

I think more reliable sexing methods, expecially DNA tests, became reasonably priced now and should be carried out in all captive pelicans.

For example Dvur Kralove routinelly takes blood samples from all pelican chicks (they produce 25-30 chicks of four species annually) at the age of 2-3 weeks and let them test for sex and paternity.

 

[mark77]

I think more reliable sexing methods, expecially DNA tests, became reasonably priced now and should be carried out in all captive pelicans.

For example Dvur Kralove routinelly takes blood samples from all pelican chicks (they produce 25-30 chicks of four species annually) at the age of 2-3 weeks and let them test for sex and paternity.

At Dvur Kravlove what are the successful group sizes, are the eggs naturally or artifically incubated, chicks parent/hand reared etc..

 

[Gigit]

Is that true Gigit? Ice on the lake at Paignton?

When we were there in August 2006 it did not seem possible that Paignton would ever experience snow or ice.

Yes - it has been that cold here! It doesn't happen very often as we are so close to the sea. The zoo is in a valley that traps cold air which probably doesn't help. Last week, Torbay was cut off from the world by heavy snow around us while we only had a brief sleet shower!
Back to the pelicans - I believe they are going to be kept off show till the summer for breeding reasons. I don't have any more details.

 

[Pertinax]

Yes - it has been that cold here! It doesn't happen very often as we are so close to the sea.

There were even icicles on Gigit's deerstalker.....

 

[Gigit]

If only I'd had a camera handy!

 

[Jana]

At Dvur Kravlove what are the successful group sizes, are the eggs naturally or artifically incubated, chicks parent/hand reared etc..

The groups are sized: 2 adult pairs Spot-Billed, 4 pairs Eastern white, 7 pairs Pink-backed and around 6 pairs Dalmatian. They breed during winter months in off show heated roams, eggs are collected and put into incubator, but returned to parents to be reared by them. The bigger part of chicks is parent-reared, abandoned/sick chicks are hand-fed in a nursery visible to visitors. Fortunately the percentage of hand-reared chicks decrease continuosly over the years. They don´t pinion chicks any more, since a new animal welfare act has been voted in autumn 2008, now it´s illegal to pinion any birds in this country.

Back to the UK - is there any coordinated program / studbook or similar activity in favour of pelicans within the frame of BIAZA, similar to such one for flamingos?

 

[Pygathrix]

They don´t pinion chicks any more, since a new animal welfare act has been voted in autumn 2008, now it´s illegal to pinion any birds in this country.

Are the pelicans going to be kept in covered aviaries now, or do the flocks stick together with the flying birds remaining with the pinioned ones? Personally I don't like pinioning as it restricts the birds' behaviour as well as being aesthetically unpleasing, but it does mean that waterbirds have been traditionally been kept in quite large enclosures. Similar sized aviaries would be expensive to build and maintain. Does the new welfare act include regular clipping of primary feathers, which has its own pros and cons?

 

[Jana]

Regulary clipping of primaries is allowed. Dvur built a walk-through pelican aviary two years ago, but most birds live in open pens mixed with antelopes during summer months.

 

[Ajkwba]

Back to the UK - is there any coordinated program / studbook or similar activity in favour of pelicans within the frame of BIAZA, similar to such one for flamingos?

Not that I am aware of

ISIS shows 7 collections in the UK with Pink Backs, with Birdland, Bristol & Flamingo Land the largest with 5 each. Not sure on Longleat numbers. Only 8 bred in europe last year

Blackpool are listed as breeding an Eastern White

 

[johnstoni]

Quite a number of pelicans have been imported into the UK in the last decade.

There are 3 Eastern Whites and 1 American White at St. James's Park in London. Their website says these were all captive bred, but also mentions a Louisiana Brown Pelican, but this bird is definitely no longer there. No mention is made of the American White, I don't know when it arrived.

I saw on one of the Longleat shows a couple of years ago that they had imported a group of what appeared to be Eastern White Pelicans. They were extremely nervous and were housed in a fenced off area at the far end of half mile lake. The other day I caught one of the Animal park shows and it appeared to show some footage of them in the same place. Does anybody know anything about this group, and why they haven't been mixed with the pink-backed flock?

ZSL had two, maybe three species around 8 years ago, almost 15 birds, now they just seem to be down to six or seven Eastern Whites.

Does anybody know if the Flamingo Zoological Park pelican collection was disbanded when the collection closed/moved during the 1990s, or does the owner still have some? I would be very interested to know where these birds went, as pelicans are very long lived. I think the only species they didn't keep was the Spot-billed, which would mean that the only one in the UK is the old single bird in with the Pink-backs at Longleat.

As for breeding, I do know that Paignton have had lots of nesting activity and eggs, but to my knowledge no chicks have hatched.

 

[Fodders]

Longleat have spot billed?

 

[twycrosszoo]

Quite a number of pelicans have been imported into the UK in the last decade.

There are 3 Eastern Whites and 1 American White at St. James's Park in London. Their website says these were all captive bred, but also mentions a Louisiana Brown Pelican, but this bird is definitely no longer there. No mention is made of the American White, I don't know when it arrived.

I saw on one of the Longleat shows a couple of years ago that they had imported a group of what appeared to be Eastern White Pelicans. They were extremely nervous and were housed in a fenced off area at the far end of half mile lake. The other day I caught one of the Animal park shows and it appeared to show some footage of them in the same place. Does anybody know anything about this group, and why they haven't been mixed with the pink-backed flock?

ZSL had two, maybe three species around 8 years ago, almost 15 birds, now they just seem to be down to six or seven Eastern Whites.

Does anybody know if the Flamingo Zoological Park pelican collection was disbanded when the collection closed/moved during the 1990s, or does the owner still have some? I would be very interested to know where these birds went, as pelicans are very long lived. I think the only species they didn't keep was the Spot-billed, which would mean that the only one in the UK is the old single bird in with the Pink-backs at Longleat.

As for breeding, I do know that Paignton have had lots of nesting activity and eggs, but to my knowledge no chicks have hatched.

Most of the pelicans that Christopher Marler kept at Flamingo Gardens went to Hillside and later Blackbrook. I know that they had the majority of them when I visited in the 1990's.
Brian