At 11 a.m. Sept. 13, the annual Pelican Festival will return to the Coralville Reservoir at the Hawkeye Wildlife Area, 2564 Amana Road N.W. The event celebrates the thousands of pelicans that settle on the Res to forage for fish and take a rest from their migration south. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the pelicans with spotting scopes provided by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. This is the fifth year the event will be at the Res, though it has been held in Iowa since 2000.
The Daily Iowan recently caught up with Karen Disbrow, Iowa Audubon Board member and an organizer of the event to discuss the festival.
Daily Iowan: What events besides viewing pelicans will take place at the festival?
Karen Disbrow: We have about 16 exhibitors. So not only can you find out about all these different organizations that have come, but they have fun activities for the kids to do. We usually try to find a group that wants to use it as a fundraiser, and this year, it’s one of the Boy Scout troops, so they’ll be there with things to eat and drink. Then we’ll have two talks on the American White Pelican. Then, this year we’ve also added three new talks. There’s a woman coming from Des Moines who will talk about mussels that are here in the rivers in Iowa. We also have another person coming from Ames to talk about the fish in the Coralville Reservoir and Lake Macbride, because what the pelicans eat primarily is fish. Then we’re having a talk on the eastern ornate box turtle. This turtle is generally not found in Iowa, but it has been discovered in the wildlife area and in a couple other places around the state. That is a really neat animal to learn about.
DI: How do you know when to plan the festival? How do you know when the pelicans are going to come?
Disbrow: Most of them are located originally just over the edge of Minnesota, and so in the spring and the fall they migrate through. We pretty much know when they’re going to do that. Right now we have approximately 5,000 pelicans on the Coralville Reservoir.
DI: Why do you feel it’s important for people to learn about the pelicans and the animals that reside so close to home for many people?
Disbrow: I think it’s always important to find out about animals that have been hit hard by some sort of ecological trap and that have rebounded. You can’t appreciate what you don’t know. It’s important for us to see them, and see how majestic they are, and learn about them, so we won’t repeat whatever caused them to be decimated in the first place. And when you live in a place like we do, that can have huge numbers like this you have to take advantage of it.
DI: What do you enjoy most about the festival? Why?
Disbrow: I enjoy meeting all the new people and the kids and showing them this marvelous bird. Most people don’t know there is an American White Pelican, and they certainly don’t know the pelicans occur here in the state of Iowa. During the summer, we will have a large group of white pelicans around here. The reason is because the immature ones, the ones that are only 2 or 3 years old, are not breeding yet. So like all teenagers, they hang out on their own. And what better place to hang out than in Iowa?
