They are not a game bird and they're not on the endangered species list.

It's only a proposal at this point. There are a lot of hurdles.

At colonies we have been monitoring, we believe West Nile is claiming 50 to 60 percent of the young for past couple of years.

Anything that holds water and fish seems have found a pelican, and even places that don't, ... It's obvious that they are all over the place in areas you wouldn't normally see them.

Once we have that (census), we will know if there is a problem with pelicans in general or if there are problems at just a couple of colonies.

We have to learn more about them before we can effectively manage the species.

The abandonment of 2004 has yet to be explained, satisfactorily. What caused the die-off last year is still uncertain, although the West Nile virus certainly has been found, especially in the young chicks.

Some of the birds holding pretty close to their nests, so that's and indication they probably are.

I would say that every biologist believes they will come back, as they have for over 100 years, unless something drastic happens.

There are usually two eggs per nest but usually only one chick survives.