Brown Pelican, Santa Cruz, Galapagos
by Venetia Featherstone-Witty
Title
Brown Pelican, Santa Cruz, Galapagos
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�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 4/4/17 in "FAA Portraits - Birds"
FEATURED 4/6/17 in "Kingdom Animalia"
FEATURED 4/10/17 in "Animal Photographs"
FEATURED 4/11/17 in "Premium FAA Artists"
FEATURED 4/14/17 in "Poetic Poultry"
FEATURED 4/20/17 in "New FAA Uploads"
FEATURED 6/13/17 in "Images That Excite You"
FEATURED 4/6/18 in "Wild Birds of the World"
Uploaded
March 30th, 2017
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Viewed 512 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 10:08 AM
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Comments (6)
Dylyce Clarke
Congratulations, your picture has been FEATURED on the home page in the group WONDER OF WINGS on November 8, 2023. You are invited to add this featured image to the group discussion page "FEATURES ARCHIVE SEPT-DEC 2023.”
William Tasker
Great capture, Venetia! Your beautiful and identified bird image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World, a nature photography group. L/F
Anita Faye
Venetia, wonderfully captured Brown Pelican! Featured on Poetic Poultry! https://fineartamerica.com/groups/poetic-poultry-.html