Rare American White Pelican in New York Harbor

Just over a week ago, an American White Pelican showed up in New York Harbor. These huge birds are primarily found in the southern and western part of the continent, nowhere near NYC. Apparently, this was the first one ever recorded in New York County, so I made an effort to see it.

I first spotted it in the harbor from Governors Island late in the day on May 3. It was pretty far away, almost to Bayonne, but its distinct shape, even at a long distance, was obvious.

I snapped a couple of photos before losing it visually. Despite being a huge white bird, it was surprisingly hard to see. The cloud cover increased as the sun went down, making it difficult to see anything out there.

The following day, a friend and I decided to try and get a better look by riding the Staten Island ferry. Sure enough, as we passed the distant area where we'd spotted the bird the evening before, it appeared in the water off the side of the boat.

All of these photos were taken from a moving boat in the wind, with only a window of a few seconds, so I feel fortunate to have captured what is here. The weather did not work in our favor, remaining dark and blustery all day.

As soon as we spotted the pelican, it took flight and headed for the wake of the boat.

It joined numerous gulls and terns that were diving at fish stirred up by the ferry's propeller. As it followed the ferry for a short distance, we were able to see it pretty well from the stern.

That hump on the pelican's bill is called a caruncle, and it grows during mating season.

For some reason, one particular gull decided it did not like the pelican and actively chased it and screamed at it - I guess I would feel the same if a giant bird competitor moved in on my turf and ate all my food!

I don't know if it was the gull that made the pelican drop away from the ferry, but as we got closer to Staten Island, the pelican retreated to the southwest part of the harbor. We did not see it on our voyage back to Manhattan.

The pelican was seen by people for about four days before disappearing as mysteriously as it appeared.

See more photos of the pelican on my Flickr page.