TULSA, Okla., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Flocks of American white pelicans are making a rare visit to sandbars on the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Okla., wildlife officials said.
Pelicans are a familiar sight in Oklahoma in the fall months as they migrate south and some flocks do stay in northeastern Oklahoma during the winter, but usually around lakes, said John Kennington, president of the Tulsa Audubon Society.
"It's a little unusual. We do get some in the winter, but we usually see them at Keystone (Lake)," Kennington told the Tulsa World. "Having them on the river is a neat thing".
A spokeswoman for the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Keystone's lake levels are below conservation levels, and the only water releases from the lake into the Arkansas River are for hydro-power.
"There are a lot of sand bars," Sara Goodeyon said, as a result of fewer water releases and the dry conditions this winter.
That might be why pelican flocks have been seen on a river running through the middle of a city, Kennington said.
"With the river being low, there may be a great concentration of fish there; that's the logical explanation," he said. "They may very well hang around, or they may decide to head to one of the lakes.
"It's hard to predict what birds will do. Birds do what they want to do". UPI
