Pelicans returned to nest on an island in the Great Salt Lake after more than 80 years.
The birds left Gunnison Island last year after land bridges left them vulnerable to predators, but returned again this spring.
Even if they were allowed to, the rocky outcropping isn’t the kind of island where a human might want to lay out a beach towel. But it used to be the perfect place for pelicans to raise their young. American white pelicans fly alongside black-necked stilts at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, a 74,000-acre nature reserve in the northern Great Salt Lake on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Pelicans at the refuge have flown thousands of miles to get to the Great Salt Lake, where thousands of them will hatch chicks on Gunnison Island, one of the species’ largest breeding colonies.
Pelicans nesting population declined each year from an average of 4,290 nests and 8,580 breeding adults to a low of 2,900 nests and 5,800 breeding adults in 2023. ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS - In this Wednesday March 8, 2017, photo, atmospheric scientists Alex Jacques, left, and Luke Leclair of the University of Utah set up a solar-powered time-lapse camera above Lambourne Bay on the east side of Gunnison Island in the northwest corner of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, to install cameras designed to help them observe how low lake levels affect the pelican population.
ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS - This Wednesday March 8, 2017, photo shows Gunnison Island in the northwest corner of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, where Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, in partner ship with Westminster College scientists, conduct research to determine the impact of low lake levels on the pelicans that nest there.
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