A project that tracks pelican movements has been expanded across inland New South Wales, as the waterbird thrives off the back of multiple wet years.
This year, more than 1,200 birds have been fitted with brightly coloured leg bands, which indicate where the pelican hatched.
Hatched pelicans have been banded since 2017, but in the past it only happened at Lake Brewster in the state's south-west.
Researchers started banding pelicans at the Gayini Wetlands, in the lower Murrumbidgee, last year.
This year, Narran Lake, near Brewarrina, has been added for the first time, with 400 pelicans banded.
University of NSW senior research fellow Kate Brandis said it was the first time pelicans had bred at the Narran Lake in more than 20 years.
"These are inland dryland wetlands and so they are frequently dry," she said.
"This year, there's been enough water that the large lake at Narran has filled and the pelicans have used it to their advantage.
"There are very few inland pelican nesting sites and to add an extra one into our list is awesome."
Tracking pelicans
Researchers start the tracking process by fitting pelicans with a brightly coloured leg band.
If a pelican has an orange leg band, it hatched at Lake Brewster.
The same applies to blue bands for Gayni Wetland birds, black bands for Narran Lake, and red and green bands for Victorian birds.
NSW Department of Planning and Environment senior scientist John Porter said researchers were trying to better understand nest-site fidelity, which is a tendency for birds to return each season to the same nesting site.
"Nest-site fidelity is really important because that means the pelicans are a little bit limited in where they will nest and the management of those sites is really important," he said.
"There could be, for instance, environmental water releases to support the fish population and the breeding.
"Or perhaps more vigilant pest control to make sure the pelicans can finish their breeding."
Calls for citizen scientists to help
Researchers are now asking people across NSW to report banded pelican sightings to the environment department, as the birds start to return to coastal regions from this month.
Dr Brandis said people should report the band colour and ideally, the large number on the bands.
"It helps our research enormously. When the birds are breeding they're all in one spot and we can get access to lots of them," she said.
"But once they finish breeding they go all over the place and we cannot track them individually."
Dr Brandis said anyone, from inland to the coast, could report sightings.
"Having people report that they've seen them in different places adds to our research," she said.
"We can work out which birds went where and how far they've travelled."
Dr Porter said despite a recovery in pelican numbers last year, their populations had been going down.
"Overall, pelican numbers have been declining across eastern Australia steadily for the last 40 years," he said.
"We knew populations were declining so we wanted to initiate this program to help us understand their need to return to nesting sites."
