Brown Pelican--“A wonderful bird is the pelican; his bill can hold more than his belly can,” goes the limerick by Dixon Lanier Merritt. And it's true: A pelican's pouch can hold up to three times more than its stomach.

Driven almost to extinction twice—first by hunting and later by pesticides including DDT—the Brown Pelican is today a shining example of the success of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the work of the Environmental Protection Agency. But these cornerstones of conservation are now themselves at risk.

By 1970, the species was declared Endangered. Fortunately, in 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT in the United States. As a result, the level of DDT in the environment has decreased in most areas, and the reproductive success of Brown Pelicans has increased. Protection of nesting islands has also contributed to the species' recovery.

Today, the Brown Pelican's population continues to grow. It was de-listed from the ESA in 2009 and is considered one of the Act's great success stories, (https://abcbirds.org/bird/brown-pelican/#:~:text=Driven%20almost%20to%20extinction%20twice,are%20now%20themselves%20at%20risk.)

Canon 5Dmarkiii, Sigma150-600w2x extender@930mm, 1/800sec@f13, iso 2500