American White Pelicans Seen In Will County For Fall Migration

WILL COUNTY, IL — The American white pelicans have returned to Will County for their fall migration, according to the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The pelicans have been spotted flying overhead, and were seen in Channahon near Four Rivers Environmental Education Center over the weekend.

The pelicans that pass through Will County each spring and fall are American white pelicans, one of the largest birds in North America, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Pelicans usually return beginning in late August or early September, making a pit stop here on their way to their wintering grounds along the Gulf of Mexico, the preserve said. They will typically stick around until November or even into December. In the spring, they arrive in Will County in late February or early March as they make the return trip to their breeding grounds in Canada and Dakotas.

They are usually seen locally until early May.

The number of pelicans seen locally can vary throughout their stopover periods, and, as with all wildlife, there's no guarantee they'll be present at any given time, the preserve said. One of the places where they frequently congregate and can be seen with regularity is McKinley Woods — Kerry Sheridan Grove in Channahon. A few other places in the preserves where you might glimpse these big birds include Rock Run Rookery Preserve in Joliet and Lake Renwick Preserve in Plainfield.

At Lake Renwick, you can sometimes spot them from Copley Nature Park, where they'll tuck themselves behind the islands to protect themselves from the wind, said Jess McQuown, program coordinator at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center. Away from the preserves, another pelican hot spot is along Front Street by the boat launch in Channahon.

Many people aren't aware pelicans make regular appearances in Will County, because the American white pelicans are the lesser-known cousins of brown pelicans, which live along the ocean and gulf coast in the southern United States, according to the preserve.