West Bay resident Jo Kirk couldn’t believe her eyes during her early morning swim this week, when what looked like a pair of pelicans flew directly overhead.
Convinced that, as some people suggested, she hadn’t confused them with frigatebirds, she turned to Cayman Islands’ birdwatching community for answers.
Keen birdwatcher Peter Davey was able to confirm that her instincts had been correct: Pelicans – specifically brown pelicans – are frequent winter visitors to the Cayman Islands and there are, in his estimation, currently around 30 of these striking birds on Grand Cayman.
“They don’t breed here, but they can arrive in considerable numbers,” said Davey, who confirmed that the birds can usually be seen on island between December and March.
“They tend to be young ones who come here to learn survival skills, such as living in the wild, and can often be seen practising their diving skills off Seven Mile Beach.”
With their oversized bills, long, slender necks and sturdy bodies, pelicans are distinctive birds, and groups of them can currently be seen early morning and at sunset at many of Cayman’s inland ponds, such as Malportas and Meagre Bay, where Davey once spotted a group of 30.
“They’ve got a good choice of salt and fresh water options here for fishing,” says Davey. “They’ll be quite happy here.”
Fellow birdwatcher Tonja Wight has also been spotting pelicans around Grand Cayman, sometimes in large groups.
“It’s really fun to watch them diving and swimming,” she says. “At the moment you can see them almost anywhere across the island.”
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