White pelicans on the Madison today. One pelican eats four pounds of food per day, mostly fish; chubs, sculpins, minnows and trout. They sometimes fish in groups “corralling” their prey in a circle. They will also eat crayfish, frogs and salamanders. They will travel great distances to find food. In Montana, there are four major breeding colonies of White Pelicans: Medicine Lake NWR, Canyon Ferry Lake, Bowdoin NWR and Eyraud Lakes area NE of Choteau. There is also a breeding colony in the SE arm of Yellowstone Lake on the Molly Islands. The pelicans we see here on the Madison and Ennis Lake probably come from one of these breeding grounds. American White Pelicans have a lifespan of sixteen years, up to thirty years or longer. The “bump” you see on some pelican bills is called a “caruncle” and can be found on both males and females. It is a temporary fleshy growth that disappears after breeding season. There are more than fifty birds in this video which means they are consuming around 200 pounds of food per day. The estimated White Pelican population in Montana is 13,000 birds.
