Brown Pelican, Galapagos Islands

by Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Title

Brown Pelican, Galapagos Islands

Artist

Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a small pelican found in the Americas. It is one of the best known and most prominent birds found in the coastal areas of the southern and western United States. It is one of only three pelican species found in the Western Hemisphere and one of the only two that feeds by diving into the water.
The brown pelican lives on both coasts in the Americas. On the Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast they distribute from Nova Scotia to Venezuela, and to the mouth of the Amazon River. Along the Atlantic, they are usually less common north of the Carolinas, with a considerable population in much of the Gulf of Mexico. On the Pacific Ocean they are found from British Columbia to northern Peru (populations found further south are now regarded as a separate species, the Peruvian pelican), and including the Galapagos Islands. In the Pacific, they are fairly common along the coast of California, Mexico and Central America. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter. They are also common in Mangrove swamps.
Pelicans are very gregarious birds; they live in flocks of both sexes throughout the year. They are exceptionally buoyant due to the internal air sacks beneath their skin and in their bones, and as graceful in the air as they are clumsy on land. In level flight, pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders, the bills resting on their folded necks. They may fly in a "V", but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface.

When foraging, they dive bill-first like a kingfisher, often submerging completely below the surface momentarily as they snap up prey. Upon surfacing they spill the water from the throat pouch before swallowing their catch. Only the Peruvian pelican shares this active foraging style, while other pelicans forage more inactively by scooping up corralled fish while swimming on the surface of the water. Juvenile brown pelicans have been observed foraging in the surface-swimming matter of other pelicans. They are occasional targets of kleptoparasitism by other fish-eating birds such as gulls, skuas and frigatebirds.

Although the brown pelican eats mostly fish, an occasional amphibian or crustacean may supplement the diet. Menhaden may locally account for 90 to 95% of their food. The anchovy supply is particularly important to the nesting success of the brown pelican.However, their preferred prey are usually not commercially fished species. Other fish preyed on with some regularity can include pigfish, pinfish, herring, sheepshead, silversides, mullet, and minnows, and they sometimes eat crustaceans, usually prawns. A single adult pelican can eat up to 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) each day. Today, in many coastal areas, brown pelicans will loaf around fishing ports and piers in hopes of being fed or stealing scraps of fish, especially if conditioned to do.
FEATURED 11/2/17 in "Animal Photographs"
FEATURED 11/3/17 in "FAA Portrait Gallery"
FEATURED 11/2/17 in "Wild Birds of the World"
FEATURED 11/8/17 in "Poetic Poultry"
FEATURED 11/12/17 "Wildlife One A Day"
FEATURED 11/16/17 in "FAA Portraits - Birds"
FEATURED 8/20/17 in "Images That Excite You"
FEATURED 11/28/17 in "AAA Images"
FEATURED 12/11/17 in "Birds of the World"
FEATURED 12/17/17 in "New FAA Uploads"
FEATURED 11/21/20 in "Your Very Best Photography"
FEATURED 9/26/21 in "Beautiful Birds"
FEATURED 9/27/21 in "Macro Marvels"

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November 2nd, 2017

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