Brown Pelicans in Tampa Bay

Brown pelicans around Tampa nest in colonies on estuarine islands, and the best known Tampa Bay site is the Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area in Hillsborough Bay, where FWC lists the brown pelican as a focal species (FWC, Alafia Banks CWA).

FWC describes the nesting pattern statewide rather than for Tampa Bay alone: a colony can hold several hundred breeding pairs, the nests sit in trees or bushes, most often on estuarine islands, and mangroves are the usual Florida nest site (FWC brown pelican profile). The same profile lists docks, sandbars, beaches, sand spits and dredge spoil islands among the places they use.

The Alafia Banks site covers 92 acres at the mouth of the Alafia River and takes in two islands known locally as Bird Island and Sunken Island (FWC). Audubon Florida manages the site as part of its Richard T. Paul Alafia Banks Sanctuary, and the bird count there runs to the thousands in both the nesting season and the winter months, according to FWC. The pelicans share it with herons, egrets, ibis, roseate spoonbills and American oystercatchers.

Alafia Banks is the only Hillsborough County site on the FWC list of Critical Wildlife Areas (FWC, Explore CWAs by Name), so it is the only Critical Wildlife Area in the county. The Tampa Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary guide covers the spoonbill side of that colony.

FWC says brown pelicans between 30 and 20 degrees north latitude, the band that takes in Tampa Bay, breed between winter and spring, while pelicans north of 30 degrees breed in spring and summer (FWC brown pelican profile).

That puts the Tampa Bay breeding season earlier in the year than for pelicans north of 30 degrees. Females lay one to three white eggs in a nest of sticks lined with leaves, incubation takes up to 30 days, and both adults feed the nestlings, which stay in or near the nest for about 70 days (FWC). Brown pelicans reach breeding age at three to five years old.

Tampa Bay adults are easy to read in the field. During the breeding season the head turns bright yellow and the neck white, fading to dull yellow and brown afterward, while juveniles are almost completely brown with a whitish belly (FWC). The bird reaches 48 inches long with an 84 inch wingspan and is still the smallest of the six pelican species in the world.

The feeding style is what draws Tampa anglers' attention. Unlike pelican species that herd fish in flocks, the brown pelican dives headfirst from as high as 50 feet and scoops fish near the surface, then tips its head to drain the pouch (FWC).

No: brown pelicans in Florida, Tampa Bay birds included, came off the federal endangered list in 1985 and off Florida's state list on January 11, 2017, but they remain protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and FWC rules against take (FWC brown pelican profile).

The Federal Register rule that finished the federal delisting took effect December 17, 2009 and states that the brown pelican will remain protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Federal Register, Nov. 17, 2009). It notes that Florida birds had already been delisted in 1985. The rule ties the old collapse to DDE, the main breakdown product of DDT, a pesticide widely used from the 1950s through the early 1970s.

FWC's statewide profile, which does not single out Tampa Bay, says populations crashed in the 1960s and 1970s because of DDT and rebounded after the ban, and it names today's threats as habitat degradation, sea level rise, pollution and the destruction of coastal wetlands (FWC). Coastal development also brings predators that take eggs and young, including rats, raccoons, opossums, crows, feral hogs and coyotes. The profile also lists oil spills and the use of pelican eggs as fishing bait.

Boats and kayaks cannot land at all: both Alafia Banks islands and the water buffer around them are closed to public access year-round, and in-water markers show the line (FWC, Alafia Banks CWA).

At Alafia Banks and every other posted site, state rule 68A-19.005 of the Florida Administrative Code prohibits dogs, vehicles, vessels and fishing inside any area posted Critical Wildlife Area, Closed to Public Access (FWC, Critical Wildlife Areas). FWC sets each boundary in the establishment order for that site, and it says a boundary can be larger than the posted closed area so it can follow shifts in where birds nest. Every designation also needs the landowner's support.

FWC explains why the Hillsborough Bay buffer matters: wading birds and shorebirds flush from nests when people come too close, leaving eggs and chicks exposed to predators and sun (FWC). For a sense of distance, the CWA FAQ cites a 1995 study by Rodgers and Smith in Conservation Biology that recommended a 100 meter setback, about 328 feet, from wading bird colonies (FWC, CWA FAQs).

A practical point for Hillsborough Bay boaters: the closed area takes in the surrounding water buffer marked by in-water markers, so the limit is the markers rather than the island shoreline. FWC asks visitors to watch for CWA educational and regulatory signs when recreating nearby (FWC).

FWC's rule of thumb for a hooked pelican anywhere on Tampa Bay is reel, remove, release, and never cut the line (FWC hooked bird guidance).

The FWC steps for Tampa Bay anglers, in order: get help if possible and reel the bird in slowly and evenly without jerking (FWC). From a pier, keep the bird on the water until a hoop net can lift it, since birds hauled up onto a pier can be badly hurt. Grasp the head behind the eyes, fold the wings against the body and hold the legs; with a pelican, the beak can be held but slightly open so the bird can breathe. Cover the head with a towel, hat or shirt to calm it.

Then, still on the Tampa pier or boat, cut the barb and back the hook out; if the barb is embedded, push the hook through until the barb shows and clip it (FWC). Cut away any tangled line, check the whole bird for other hooks, and release it facing the water. Discarded line goes in a monofilament recycling bin, or is cut into pieces shorter than 3 inches and put in a lidded trash can.

If a Tampa Bay pelican has swallowed the hook or is badly injured, FWC points anglers to its app to find the nearest seabird rehabilitator or a transporter to take the bird to one, and asks the angler to stay with the bird until help arrives (FWC).

At Skyway Fishing Pier State Park, every angler must pass an FWC online course each year and may not use multiple-hook rigs from November 15 to March 15 (FWC, Skyway Fishing Pier State Park).

Source: FWC Skyway Fishing Pier regulations. FWC states that the rules are designed to reduce the likelihood and severity of seabird entanglement in fishing gear and to further seabird conservation at the pier. The page notes that its photo list of banned seasonal gear is not complete, so other multi-hook gear can also be prohibited.

The November 15 to March 15 window overlaps the winter part of the winter to spring breeding period FWC gives for pelicans at this latitude (FWC brown pelican profile). Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the FWC species, Critical Wildlife Area, Hooked a Bird and Skyway pier pages and the 2009 Federal Register delisting rule.