Pelicans dine in De Pere during summer A wounded white Pelican recuperates in a bathroom (AP file photo) By Charity Johnson News-Chronicle Although plenty of senior citizens head south for the winter, they aren't the only "snowbirds" who are coming back to De Pere as temperatures warm up. They'll be joined by feathery friends that may make them wonder whether they've truly left the Sunshine State. The American white pelican began summering along the Fox River near the Claude Allouez bridge in 1990, according to wildlife biologist Ken Stromborg. "There was only a few that were sighted originally, and then as the years went past nesting attempts were made and that drew more of the pelicans to the area," Stromborg said. "Now we see these birds pretty frequently and it seems as if they decided this was a pretty good area and decided to bring their buddies." Stromborg, who works for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service Department, also believes a change in food supply could be what has brought them to the Great Lakes area. "I normally work with the double-crested cormorants, but a lot of the eating habits are similar and I have found that food is one of their major draws to the area." While Tom Erdman may agree the pelicans enjoy the abundance of food in the area, he does believe there are other reasons contributing to their return. Erdman, a curator for the Richter Museum of Natural History at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, spent much of his time since the 1960s researching the American white pelican. Erdman said there is mention of pelican sightings along the Fox River in some Jesuit records. These records are all before European settlement in the area. There is no indication there was any nesting by the pelicans at that time. "This was a natural area for them to be, and I feel they have been brought back because they now do not have to worry about being disturbed. When the settlement originally occurred in the area there were a lot of firearms and other activity that these birds had not been used to and in order to protect their young from possible predators they moved to different areas far from the great lakes," Erdman said. "Now they obviously feel safe enough to return and now even nest here. Another factor may be the low herring gull population in the area. The gulls will destroy their babies and the pelicans obviously want to avoid this fate." The pelicans began to nest in 1995 on Cat Island at the mouth of the Fox River. It was the first nesting attempt on the Great Lakes of which there is a written record. In 1995, Erdman was able to band one chick from this nest. The following year the banded chick returned with other pelicans. According to Erdman there are now approximately 275 pairs of pelicans nesting at Cat Island. "Typically nonbreeders don't associate with the breeders so we probably have a total of about 550 to 600 pelicans in the area. The pelicans find the island environment an ideal place to nest to ward off predators and the fishing along the Fox River is plentiful enough to sustain them," Erdman said. Erdman added state laws establish the islands as off limits during breeding season and help the birds with their comfort level. The male and female birds typically take turns seeing to their young birds'needs. In this area, one will nest with the young at Cat Island while the other will head off along the Fox River to fish, sometimes going as far as Sturgeon Bay and returning all in one day. The shallow area along the Claude Allouez Bridge near the dam, as well as the stretch of land where the lockkeepers cottage is stationed, provide plentiful fish drawing many of these birds to the De Pere area of the Fox River. Because they are tip-up feeders and do not dive, the pelicans normally swim parallel forming a line to herd the fish to shallow water. Once the opportunity is there, they often go down together. "They like catfish, gizzard chad and bourbet but these creatures are not picky. They will take what is available," Erdman said. Since 1995, Erdman has banded over 2,000 birds, many of which return each year. "Two years ago we had one of our banded birds from the Fox make history. He took a wrong turn and instead of ending up in Florida like most of the other pelicans this guy ended up in Bermuda, but he made it back here the next summer ... whether he is back this year I do not know yet," Erdman said. "Many of the white pelicans people see while vacationing in Florida are probably some of the same pelicans they see here during the summer."