It seems that groups of Pelicans have several names such as a pod, pouch, scoop, or a squadron. They usually patrol in the single file line but occasionally we will see them in the V pattern.
We rarely lose a coconut tree but when we do it's most often done in by an unseen killer that burrows into the heart of the tree from below. There's not much we can do to save the tree and this is what we find when we take it down. In our experience this has happened only to fairly young trees.