Brown Pelican

Where to see

Brown Pelican

Pelecanus occidentalis

Padre Island National Seashore leads · 35 parks ranked by real sighting rates

Parks Ranked

Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Brown Pelican during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)

#ParkCountrySighting
1 Padre Island National Seashore 🇺🇸 United States
~90%
2 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~90%
3 Galápagos Islands 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~80%
4 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~80%
5 Bahía de Loreto National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~80%
6 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~60%
7 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
~60%
8 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~60%
9 Cabo Pulmo National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~60%
10 Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~50%
11 Machalilla National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~50%
12 Coiba National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~50%
13 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~50%
14 Ostional Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~50%
15 Las Baulas Marine National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
16 Jaragua National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~40%
17 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
18 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~40%
19 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~40%
20 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
21 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
22 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~30%
23 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
24 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~30%
25 Main Ridge Forest Reserve 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
~30%

Before you go

Which is the best park to see a Brown Pelican?

Padre Island National Seashore

In Padre Island National Seashore, United States, about 90% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Pelican sighting on a given day, the highest of the 35 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see a Brown Pelican?

It depends on the park

In the top parks, the best months are July to September in Padre Island National Seashore (over 90%), January in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (over 90%) and March–May and October–November in Galápagos Islands (about 90%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Brown Pelican on a given day. Each park's Brown Pelican page has the full month-by-month chart.