Inthiscompellingbook,RienFerteltellsthestoryofhumanity’scomplicatedandoftenbrutalrelationshipwiththebrownpelicanoverthepastcentury.Thisbelovedbirdwiththemythicallybottomlessbelly--tosaynothingofitsprodigiouspouch--hasbeendeemedalivingfossilandthemostdinosaur-likeofcreatures.ThepelicanadornstheLouisianastateflag,servesasareligiousiconofsacrifice,andstarsinthefamouspartingshotofJurassicPark,but,mostsignificantly,spotlightsourtenuousconnectionwiththeenvironmentinwhichitflies,feeds,androosts--thecoastalUnitedStates.In1903,TheodoreRooseveltinauguratedthefirstnationalwildliferefugeatPelicanIsland,Florida,inordertorescuethebrownpelican,amongotherspecies,fromtheplumetrade.Despitesuchprotections,theubiquityofsynthetic“agentsofdeath,“mostnotablyDDT,inthemid-twentiethcenturysentthebrownpelicantothelistofendangeredspecies.Bythemid-1960s,notoneviablepelicannestremainedinallofLouisiana.Authoritiesdeclaredthestatebirdlocallyextinct.Conservationefforts--includinganoutlandishbutwell-plannedbirdnapping--savedthebrownpelican,generatingoneofthegreatsuccessstoriesinanimalpreservation.However,thebrownpelicanisonceagainunderthreat,particularlyalongLouisiana’scoast,duetolandlossandrisingseas.Forcenturies,artistsandwritershaveportrayedthepelicanasabirdthatpiercesitsbreasttofeeditsyoung,symbolizingsaintlypiety.Today,thebrownpelicangivesitselfinotherways,sacrificedbothbyandfortheenvironmentasabellwetherbird--anindicatorspeciesportendingpotentialdisastersthatawait.BrownPelicancombineshistoryandfirst-personnarrativetocomplicate,deconstruct,andreassembleourvisionofthebird,thenaturalworld,andourselves.
