Random Walks in Time: It's Our Thing: The Pelicans of Pensacola

Having traveled over a million miles in this country, I have noticed that many communities have adopted some kind of theme or mascot for branding or advertisements. A small group of these have gone all out, creating team-building experiences for businesses, community esprit de corps, art in public spaces and tourist traps (I say that affectionately). It might be cows or bears or even big boots. As you walk around Pensacola, Florida you notice the abundance of pelicans. Pelicans on signs, pelicans flying overhead, and pelican statuary.

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a year round visitor in Florida. It is warm enough during the winter that they can fish and after nesting season is over, the birds may fly up to North Carolina (they fly as far north as Nova Scotia, but only rarely). Pelicans then return with the New Yorkers for the winter. They are at once peculiar and graceful in flight, adopting a posture of head resting on shoulders. They stay in large groups of both sexes throughout the year and tend to fly in groups. They may adopt a v-formation, but are usually in a line.

It is a real treat to watch brown pelicans fish. Flying over the ocean looking for prey, these birds pull their wings back and dive headfirst into the water, knocking fish unconscious with the shock wave generated when they hit the water. They scoop the fish up in their pouch, return to the surface, dump water out of their pouch, swallow their prey and fly off again. They have to watch the darned kleptoparasites - gulls, skuas, and frigatebirds have been known to swipe food from pelicans. Pelicans can become conditioned to approaching humans for a food handout at seaside restaurants and fishing piers.

The GrandPelican - "Press"ton
2 N. Palafox

One of the most successful public art project is CowParade. A contest to place a design on a fiberglass cow (standing, reclining, or grazing) is held and the winning designs produced and displayed throughout the host cities. The first CowParade took place in Chicago in 1999. Over 75 cities, about 5000 cow and 250 million viewers later, CowParade is still going strong. After the event, cows are auctioned off as fundraisers. The 2002 Portland event was seen by Pensacola News Journal president and publisher Denise Ivey, who thought that something similar would go over well in Pensacola. Since Florida is not really associated tightly with cows, they came up with something unique - Pelicans in Paradise. A Pelican Parade.

Twenty-one pelicans made up the original "flight" from 23 June - 3 July 2004. The second flight of 15 launched November 15-19 and another flight of five were installed in 2005. Many more have been added in the years since, totaling about 70 in all. These fiberglass statues stand about five feet tall, weigh about 70 pounds and stand on bases that are about 450 pounds. Most of these statues are concentrated into downtown Pensacola, although there are many in far-flung locations around the area. Finding all of the pelicans has become a kind of scavenger hunt, and several people have created maps with photos of the various pelicans. If you find a new one, you can add it to the maps along with your pictures.

Semper Fi - The Marine Pelican
N. Palafox and E. Garden

The first group that I saw were those honoring the US Armed Forces at the intersection of North Palafox and East Garden Streets. It would take some doing to find and see all of the Pelicans on Parade. Some have been vandalized, damaged or moved through the years. Recently, the concrete base of many of these statues have been replace with pier pilings, giving them a much more nautical look. If you visit downtown Pensacola - see how many you can catch!

Getting There

Downtown Pensacola is most easily approached from the east (Tallahassee) or west (Mobile) from I-10. The Downtown Pensacola exit (I-110 South) will take you into downtown onto Garden Street.