White pelicans making a comeback in Mid-Columbia

The population of American white pelicans in Washington has rebounded enough for their status to be changed from “endangered” to “threatened.”

They are a familiar sight in the Mid-Columbia, foraging beneath dams like the Wanawish on the Yakima River in the Horn Rapids area.

Despite the change in status, the state still has only one breeding colony. They nest at Badger Island in the Columbia River upstream from McNary Dam near Wallula in the McNary National Wildlife Refuge.

The white pelican was one of several species addressed at a recent meeting of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The commission removed bald eagles and peregrine falcons from the state list of “sensitive species,” reflecting their steady recovery since the 1970s when the pesticide DDT was banned under federal law. They remain protected under federal law, but the state will no longer designate them for special attention in local land-use planning.

“Both of these species are success stories in Washington as well as other states,” said Penny Becker, diversity division manager for Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The commission reclassified lynx and marbled murrelets, a small seabird, as endangered because of continuing loss of their habitat.

Although the population of white pelicans in Washington recovered substantially, the population remains vulnerable because there is only a single colony, according to a state Department of Fish and Wildlife report by biologist Derek Stinson. They are sensitive to disturbance, water level fluctuations and disease and have a history of “boom or bust” productivity.

The white pelicans, one of the largest birds in North America, began nesting on Badger Island in 1997 and since then the colony has grown to more than 1,600 breeding pairs. The 3,670 white pelicans nesting on the island account for almost 9 percent of the western United States population of the birds.

Historically, the birds nested at Moses Lake, but there are no published reports of nesting there since 1926.

Badger Island is closed to the public to avoid human disturbance to nesting pelicans. The island is surrounded by shallow water, providing isolation from most recreational boating during breeding season.

If disturbed by humans or predators while nesting, they are prone to desert their eggs, or leave them or their young exposed to predators. They typically raise just one chick per year.

The birds eat fish like carp and suckers, plus amphibians and crayfish, and are not considered a threat to salmon populations by the state. However, Yakima Nation Fisheries biologists believe the pelicans may be dining on juvenile salmon in the Yakima River.

The decline of the birds in Washington that caused them to be listed as endangered in 1981 was the result of loss of habitat and DDT and other pesticide contamination. They are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, but are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In changing the status of the birds to “threatened,” the state commission also considered a smaller colony that formed in 2010 on Miller Sands in Oregon waters in the Columbia River estuary.

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 1:39 PM with the headline "White pelicans making a comeback in Mid-Columbia."