The status of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) in California up to 1968 has been summarized by Schreiber and DeLong (1969), to 1970 by Schreiber and Risebrough (1972) and to 1972 by Anderson and Anderson (unpublished).
Central California’s Monterey Bay region is important to Brown Pelicans, both as a former breeding area and as a very important feeding area during the northward post-breeding dispersal. It seems worthwhile to document their status there in more detail.