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272 Hand-Rearing Birds

important to present them with live fish so that they experience catching live fish in their pouch,
draining the water, and swallowing the fish without losing it. At PHSS, fish is delivered once a
week from local fishermen for rehabilitation pelicans and enrichment for permanent residents.
A soft release is preferable if possible. It is also recommended that juveniles are released in
groups in the vicinity of flocks of adult pelicans and, if possible, near a rookery site. At PHSS, reha-
bilitated and wild pelicans are banded with USGS metal bands. Juvenile pelicans released from the
facility are often seen swimming and flying in the bay with wild adults. They leave with these wild
groups of adults for the spring migration north. An avid birder has been active in reporting sight-
ings and sending photographs of a rookery site 200 miles north of Miami. These reports show cap-
tive‐raised and/or rehabilitated juveniles interacting in the wild with adults and other juveniles.

­ Acknowledgments

Thanks to Linda Gregard DVM and Beth Hirschfeld DVM for their input, and many thanks to the
late Wendy Fox who wrote the first version of this chapter, much of which remains here. Thanks
to current and former staff and volunteers of PHSS, Miami, Florida, for caring for the birds.

­ Sources­for Products­Mentioned

SeaTabs: Pacific Research Labs, Inc., 730 Saddlebrook Dr., Ramona, CA 92065, www.prlvitamins.
com.
Auklet or Vita‐Zu Tablets: Mazuri, PMI Nutrition International, LLC, PO Box 66 812, St. Louis, MO
63166, www.mazuri.com.

­ References

Hawkins, M.G., Sanchez‐Migallon Guzman, D., Beaufrere, H. et al. (2018). Birds. In: Exotic Animal
Formulary, 5e (eds. J.W. Carpenter and C.J. Marion), 167–375. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Miller, E.A. (ed.) (2000). Minimum Standards for Wildlife Rehabilitation, 3e, 77 pp. St. Cloud, MN:
National Wildlife Rehabilitation Association http://www.nwrawildlife.org/documents/
Standards3rdEdition.pdf.
Miller, E.A. (ed.) (2006). Quick Reference, 3e, 148 pp. St Cloud, MN: National Wildlife Rehabilitators
Association.
Shields, M. 2014. Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), version 2.0. In: The Birds of North America.
A.F. Poole (ed.), Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/ 10.2173/bna.609.
Zaias, J., Fox, W., Cray, C., and Altman, N. (2000). Hematologic, plasma protein, and biochemical
profiles of Brown pelicans. American Journal of Veterinary Research 61 (7): 771–774.