Pauline Nol C. Pelizza K. K. Sturm Tonie E. Rocke 2004 <p>In 1996, type C avian botulism killed over 10,000 pelicans and nearly 10,000 other fish-eating birds at the Salton Sea in southern California. Although botulism had been previously documented in waterbirds at the Sea, this die-off was unusual in that it involved primarily fish-eating birds. The American White Pelican (<i>Pelecanus erythrorynchos</i>) was the species with the greatest mortality in 1996. Since 1996, mortality has recurred every year but losses have declined (&lt;2,000 birds/year), with relatively more Brown Pelicans (<i>P. occidentalis</i>) than White Pelicans afflicted. In 2000, morbidity and mortality of Brown Pelicans with type C botulism (1311) approached the numbers afflicted in 1996 (2034). In recent years, mortality reached a peak earlier in the summer, July and August, in contrast to 1996 when mortality reached a peak in September. An exotic fish species, tilapia (<i>Oreochromis mossambicus</i>), has been implicated as the source of toxin for birds at Salton Sea, but the source of toxin for fish is unknown.</p> application/pdf en Cooper Ornithological Society Type C botulism in pelicans and other fish-eating birds at the Salton Sea article