For nesting, the American white pelican requires isolated lakes with a food source nearby. Nesting lakes must contain at least one island with a water barrier around the island of sufficient depth and distance from the mainland to discourage mammalian predation. Water levels should be stable during the reproductive period. This ensures that rising water levels do not flood nest sites and decreasing water levels do not eliminate the water barrier to predation. Lakes must also be isolated to minimize the potential for human disturbance during the breeding season.
Nesting islands are usually relatively low, flat, sparsely vegetated and treeless.
B.C. Ministry of Environment, White Pelican Advisory Committee. Interim White Pelican Action Plan. The breeding ecology and management of white pelicans at Stum Lake, British Columbia. Environ., Victoria, B.C. Fish and Wildl. Wood, M.D. 1990.