May 6, 2024

Saturday, May 11, 8:00 am – 8:30 pm
Global Big Day – Learning Together at various locations

8:00 am – 10:30 am North Beach
2:00pm – 4:00pm Palmetto Lake/Equestrian Center
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm Deveaux Watch / BW 9

Max: 12 for each location
Cost: None for members; $10 donation for guests

On May 11, Cornell Lab and eBird sponsor Global Big Day. Will you join more than 30,000 others and become a part of Global Big Day? You don’t have to commit to birding for 24 hours—an hour or even 10 minutes of watching birds makes you part of the team. Visit your favorite spot or search out someplace new; enjoy a solo walk or get some friends to join in the Global Big Day fun. As part of this day, Seabrook Island Birders will conduct Learning Together activities at various locations plus offer you an opportunity to request someone to bird with you at your favorite location. The registration form below allows you to select which locations you wish to bird.

The morning will start at 8:00 am with a Learning Together at North Beach. We will be looking for the Red Knots that are our guests in April and May, stopping at Seabrook Island to rest and refuel on their long migration from South America to the Arctic to breed. Large flocks have been seen to date, growing to 5000 or more in past years. Overall, we hope to spot a nice variety of shorebirds as we work our way to the North Beach inlet. We’ll meet in the Property Owners’ beach parking lot at 8:00am. This will get us to the beach at mid tide, which should be a busy foraging time for shorebirds, as the tide goes out. Be sure to bring binoculars, camera, hats, sunscreen, water, and snacks. Wear shoes you don’t mind getting wet. Of course, you can head back at any time.

At 2:00 pm we will walk around Palmetto Lake. This is less than one mile of a flat, paved walk around the lake. Historically in May at this location we see Great Crested Flycatchers, Orchard Orioles and Mississippi Kites in addition to the “normal” Great Egrets, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadees, etc. If time permits, we’ll continue on to the Equestrian Center to see European Starlings, Eastern Bluebirds and maybe even Cattle Egret.

At 7:30 pm, our evening will conclude with a sunset view of Deveaux Bank from the beach at Boardwalk 9. Deveaux Bank Seabird Sanctuary was established to protect significant roosting and nesting habitats of sea and shorebirds. Located at the mouth of the North Edisto River in Charleston County, Deveaux Bank Seabird Sanctuary encompasses approximately 215 acres and is only accessible by boat. As Deveaux has limited access with restrictions, one of the best ways to see the birds is through a spotting scope from Pelican Beach, accessible via boardwalk 9. Sunset is the best time to see large numbers of birds returning to Deveaux for the night so bring your beach chair, favorite sunset beverage, and join us to watch this nightly event. Birds most likely to be seen include Brown Pelicans, Least Terns, Royal Terns, Black Skimmers, Sandwich terns, Laughing Gulls, Willet, and possibly Whimbrel.

As always, be sure to bring your binoculars/cameras, hats and sunscreen. If you want to stay and watch the sunset, be sure to bring a chair. Limited parking available on Seabrook Island Road, beside Boardwalk 9.

This form can also be used to suggest another location and time you would like to have a friend to join you to bird. SIB will send an email to the Google Group of all these suggested times and places for people to gather.

As always, bring binocular/camera, hat, sunscreen, snacks and water.

If you are not yet a 2024 SIB member, you must first become a member by following the instructions on our website: https://seabrookislandbirders.org/contact/join-sib/ or we request a $10 donation to SIB.

Once you are a member, please complete the information below to register no later than Thursday May 9 , 2024. All registrants will receive a confirmation letter on Friday May 10.

If you have additional questions about the program, please contact us by sending an email to: SeabrookIslandBirders@gmail.com

Photo Credits:
North Beach – Gina Sanders
Palmetto Lake – Alan Fink
Sunset – Jeff Davis

Brown Pelican – Pelecanus occidentalis
Length: 51″; Wingspan: 79″; Weight: 131.2 oz.

Brown Pelican taking off from the ocean - Ed Konrad — Brown Pelican taking off from the ocean – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelicans are a very common site on Seabrook Island all year long. This large bird is commonly found on our island flying over the dunes and beaches in V-formations or single file, flapping and gliding in unison. Sometimes you even see them coasting just inches above the water. While in flight, pelicans hold their heads drawn back on their shoulders. Have you ever seen them feed? It is a fabulous site! They drop from the air sometimes as high as 60 feet and plunge dive head first into the water and scoop and trap their prey in their extended pouch. Then they drain the water out the sides of their bill and now are left with a tasty catch of fish usually either herring, sheepshead, mullet, pigfish, minnows or pinfish. Adult Brown Pelicans consume as much as four pounds of fish per day. Ever wonder why the pelican doesn’t get hurt during these plunges? Well, air sacs beneath the skin on their breasts act like cushions to protect them during impact. They also rotate their body ever so slightly to the left. This helps to avoid injury to their esophagus and trachea which are located on their right side.

The Brown Pelican adult has a gray-brown body with white and pale yellow head and a long bill (11-13 inches) and an expandable throat pouch that can carry nearly 3 gallons of water and/or fish. The back of the neck turns chestnut in breeding season. Males and females look similar in color however males are slightly larger. Pelican bodies are large and heavy, they have short legs and webbed feet. Their wings are long and broad. Juveniles are all brown at first then change gradually to adult plumage.

Brown Pelicans are very gregarious birds. Both males and females live in flocks throughout the year. They are exceptionally buoyant due to internal air sacks beneath their skin and in their bones.

Their nests are large and flat and made of grass, straw and sticks and built in a tree or if on the ground the nest consists of a shallow scrape lined with feathers and a rim of soil. They lay 2-4 white eggs and incubation ranges from 28-30 days and is carried out by both parents. They incubate their eggs by covering them with their webbed feet. Brown pelicans are monogamous (have only one partner) throughout the breeding season and nest in large colonies.

They breed in large numbers on Deveaux Bank, a 215 acre seabird sanctuary, located between Edisto Island and Seabrook Island. This Brown Pelican colony is the largest one in South Carolina and is responsible for 67% of all Brown Pelicans nesting in South Carolina and 25% of the Brown Pelican’s nesting on the Atlantic coast.

The oldest brown pelican on record was 43 years of age.

A group of Pelicans has many collective nouns, including a “brief”, “pod”, “rush”, “pouch”, “scoop” and “squadron” of Pelicans.

The Crab Bank Pelicam, just off Mount Pleasant in Charleston Harbor, brings you live video of nesting pelicans. You will also hear the low grunts typical in a colony.

If you would like to learn more about this bird visit:

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birders: Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican flying – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican in fight – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican coming in for a landing – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican having a bite to eat while the gulls wait for the extra – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican with Laughing Gull – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican with his mouth full and a Laughing Gull waiting for dropsies – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican eating – Ed Konrad

Brown Pelican enjoying the leftovers after the dolphin strand feeding!

Brown Pelican range map

Submitted by Flo Foley and Photographs by Ed Konrad
Resubmitted 2024 by SIB

This blog post is part of a series SIB will publish on a regular basis to feature birds seen in the area, both migratory and permanent residents. When possible we will use photographs taken by our members. Please let us know if you have any special requests of birds you would like to learn more about.