Q. Do you know how to refer to a group of pelicans?
A. You can have a ‘brief’ of pelicans, a ‘pod’ of pelicans, a ‘pouch’ of pelicans and a ‘raft’ of pelicans — all of these will come in handy when you’re participating in the first Gippsland Lakes Great Pelican Count!
According to Deb Sullivan, Birdlife Australia Project Officer in East Gippsland, the Great Pelican Count is a fantastic opportunity to get out with family and friends and enjoy the Lakes while contributing important monitoring data.
“We’re calling on residents of and visitors to the Gippsland Lakes to register to be part of the Great Pelican Count,” said Deb.
“The Count is a snapshot – like a census – of pelicans across the Gippsland Lakes taken at exactly the same time on the same day.
“Anyone can be involved in the count; pelicans are distinctive and easy to spot making it an event the whole family can be involved in,” continued Deb.
The Count will be held from 11.30am to 12.00pm on Sunday, 8 April at many locations around the Gippsland Lakes.
“When you register to participate in the Count you will be allocated a site, relative to your registration preferences,” explained Deb.
“We have both a nomadic and resident population of pelicans at the Gippsland Lakes, but we don’t actually know a lot about them.”
There will be at least 75 sites across the Gippsland Lakes with counters allocated to them. Some sites will have lots of birds, others may have none, but this also provides useful information.
“We’re also keen to get some local knowledge of roost sites, or places where pelicans ‘hang out” continued Deb.
“We need to find as many as possible so we’re asking people to give us a call or send an email to let us know.”
Want to get involved?
To register for The Great Pelican Count visit birdlife.org.au/great-pelican-count or for more information email: greatpelicancount@birdlife.org.au. Registrations close on Sunday, 25 March 2018.
This project is funded by the Victorian State Government for the health of the Gippsland Lakes.
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