A Pod Of Juvenile Brown Pelicans

The following story about juvenile brown pelicans was shared with us by the Avian Conservation Center in South Carolina.

Throughout the month of September, many patients admitted to the Medical Clinic of the Avian Conservation Center were juvenile brown pelicans. Many were weak and in poor body condition, had heavy ectoparasite loads, and were infested with gapeworm.

Many of them required several days of EmerAid IC Piscivore to reduce refeeding syndrome and start the slow process of refeeding and self-feeding.

Some patients began self-feeding quickly. However, a few had difficulty feeding on their own and needed longer supplementation with EmerAid.

One of those brown pelicans, a juvenile from Edisto Island, South Carolina, needed three times daily feeding of EmerAid and twice daily force feeding until it began eating on its own. We were able to taper off EmerAid and increase the number of fish offered for self-feeding.

After treatment for both internal and external parasites and increasing its weight, the pelican was moved outside. After several weeks in a flight aviary, the young pelican was released.