The breeding status of the White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) has been reviewed in papers by Thompson (1933), Lies and Behle (1966) and Sloan (1973). These papers show that, although the number of breeding birds may fluctuate considerably in any one colony from year to year, colonies tend to remain in ancestral locations. For example, it appears that the only new colony established west of the Rockies between 1965 and 1972 was at Crump Lake, Oregon.
We were thus surprised to find a White Pelican nesting colony on Hartson Reservoir, adjacent to Honey Lake, Lassen County, California, in June 1976. Although pelicans reportedly laid eggs at Honey Lake in the early 1950s (A. M. Lapp pers. comm.), this appears to be the first record of a productive colony at this location.