Watching and Waiting

by Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Title

Watching and Waiting

Artist

Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

In Santa Cruz, Galapagos islands a hopeful pelican watches and waits for the fisherman's catch to arrive.
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.
FEATURED 11/27/17 in "Animal Photographs"
FEATURED 11/28/17 in "A Birding Group - Wings
FEATURED 11/29/17 in "Poetic Poultry"
FEATURED 11/30/17 in "Wild Birds Of The World"
FEATURED 12/1/17 in "FAA Portraits - Birds"
FEATURED 12/4/17 in "Animals and Birds in the Wild"
FEATURED 12/5/17 in "The World We See"
FEATURED 2/7/19 in "Kingdom Animalia"
FEATURED 4/14/20 in "FAA Portraits"
FEATURED 5/6/21 in "The Wonder of Wings"
FEATURED 5/6/21 in "Beautiful Birds"
FEATURED 5/7/21 in "Your Very Best Photography"

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November 27th, 2017

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