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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The New Orleans Hornets will officially switch their nickname to the \"Pelicans\" in an announcement Thursday, reports Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears on Twitter. The team plans to use the new name starting next season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hornets to announce new nickname of Pelicans, new logo tomorrow,source told Y! Sports.Pelicans is state bird, environmental symbol for state&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2014 Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) January 23, 2013&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pelicans name and logo go used next season. Merchandise availability to be determined. Pelicans also old name of Nawlins minor league teams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2014 Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) January 23, 2013&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The move had been expected since Yahoo! reported in early December that the team wanted to change its mascot to the Pelicans. Owner Tom Benson had previously said he wanted a new nickname that was more tied to the region. The Hornets nickname followed the franchise when it moved from Charlotte.\nSpears reports the team's colors will be blue, gold and red.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/01/23/new-orleans-hornets-pelicans>