Bird bounces back

The brown pelican has been removed from the endangered species list. The bird’s numbers were drastically reduced by DDT, which was sprayed to control mosquitoes but also made pelican eggs crack prematurely. The brown pelican was first declared endangered in 1970. Thanks to a ban on DDT in 1972 and conservation efforts, there are now more than 650,000 brown pelicans in the Gulf and Pacific coasts, the Caribbean and Latin America. It’s also the state bird of Louisiana and was going to be delisted a few years ago but was set back by Gulf Coast oil spills and habitat destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.