Pelicans seen in Northwest Tenn. starting to migrate north

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — Hundreds of special visitors are starting to make their way back home this winter, and you may spot them on their journey.

“It’s not been uncommon just right out from our visitor center here to see a couple hundred,” Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge director Barron Crawford said.

A couple hundred pelicans, that is.

“They are used to seeing pelicans on the coast or maybe pelicans on the Great Lakes, and it’s kind of a shock for them to see them in this area,” Crawford said.

He said hundreds of White American Pelicans flock to northwest Tennessee every year during the winter months.

“It’s similar what they are used to on the Great Lakes,” Crawford said. “There is a great fisheries resource for them to feed upon, and the refuge provides sanctuary so they are not being disturbed, and I think it’s just a natural fit for them in this area.”

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials say if you are wanting to catch a glimpse of the pelicans before they fly back north, you may want to hurry because with the seasons changing it’s about time for them to take off.

“Generally, when we get these warms spells where it starts pushing 60s and you get south winds, they turn around, and that’s kind of their trigger to head back north for their nesting grounds,” said Rob Colvin with the TWRA.

If you would like to try and spot the flocks of fowl, they can be seen near the National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center at Paris Landing State Park. Lake Barkley at Dover is another good spot, along with the areas near Barkley Dam and Kentucky Dam, according to Crawford.

“We get a lot of people that come out here when the pelicans are in town to come view them off of our patio,” he said. “We do get a lot of calls from folks saying they saw them or they see them circling overhead and wanting to know what this big, white birds with the black wing tips on them.”