AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS FROM THE ARCHIVES

I am going back to January 2014 for this post and probably the first time I ever saw white pelicans. 

These were taken at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida, link here.

A lot of the birds are wild and tend to fly into the park in droves when it is feeding time for the resident birds. I don’t see any bands on their legs, so are assuming they are wild.

 I read that those bumps on their beaks appear on both male and female pelicans during breeding season, but once breeding season is over they fall off. These make them more attractive to prospective mates and it is called a nuptial tubercle. The photo below has two white ibis sharing the log with them.

Here are a few more facts. 

White pelicans have one of the largest wingspans of any North American bird at 9 feet.

White pelicans sometimes work together to herd fish to more shallow water where they can feast on them more easily.  

From the time an egg hatches until the bird leaves its nest and becomes independent, the parents provide 150 pounds of food.

White pelicans are pretty accomplished thieves, stealing from other pelicans and cormorants so they don’t have to do the work themselves.

They breed on islands in shallow wetlands with many other birds, including other white pelicans and also cormorants.

Unlike brown pelicans that fly high above the water and then dive down into the water to catch their prey, white pelicans get their body weight by feeding from the water surface, dipping their beaks into the water to snag fish and other aquatic animals.

White pelicans are one of the heaviest flying bird in the world. An average white pelican weighs between 7 to 20 pounds. 

Females lay 1 to 3 eggs in a slight depression in the ground. Both the male and female will incubate the eggs - not the other way other birds do, but with their giant orange feet. Eggs hatch in about a month and usually, only one will survive to leave the nest. Chicks leave the nest - fledge - when they are about 10 weeks old.

Except for the fact that males are slightly larger than females, the two appear identical. 

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a happy Thursday. 

PELICAN SQUADRON IN FLORIDA 2014

From my archives: we were on a road trip down to Florida and we had left our hotel that morning. We stopped shortly afterwards, so that we could enjoy our daily exercise by walking along the beach. An added benefit of course was being able to see not only the gulls but also the pelicans. As you can see by this first photo, it was a very foggy morning but there I am, camera in hand, enjoying all those birds.  

I thought they were waiting for the fog to clear before taking off over the ocean......

but more likely they are all facing the same direction into the wind to stabilize themselves while standing. There is less chance of them getting blown over this way. Facing in this direction gives the gulls an easier takeoff, which I suppose applies to the Pelicans. Birds are generally referred to as a 'flight' when in the air and a 'flock' on the ground, but gulls on the ground are called a 'colony'.  

So, what do you call a group of Pelicans?

A Squadron......

and this Squadron of Pelicans decided it was time to take off.....

but first they had to receive their orders from their Squadron Leader....

who was chatting with his second in command.

"Get ready chaps!"

Uh-oh!  They're doing a scramble.  Scramble? According to RAF (Royal Air Force) terminology, getting airborne as soon as possible. But they're looking a bit at a loss as to which direction to take off in.  A bit ropey chaps!

Should we scrub take off?

Whoa, steady now!

No?  It's a go!

And the crowd roars!

The Squadron Leader called it, a "Jolly good show and a good practice run. We will do even better tomorrow.

Let's head back to the NAAFI to get a cup of char".  That's tea to everyone who doesn't know what a cup of char is.

It is said that Pelicans are the largest flying birds, because they have air in their bones that makes them lighter and more graceful than they appear.  

Thanks for looking and if you remember this from last time, (last time being in March 2014), hopefully you will enjoy it again.

Have a great day!

PELICAN TAKE-OFF

From my archives, an old post from March 2013. 

We were at the Dockside Restaurant on the Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach (Virginia) and at the back where there were tables overlooking the water, there was a marina that attracted many water birds. Besides the usual Gulls, which I always love, there were also Pelicans and Red-breasted Mergansers. (These Mergansers were a first for me.  I have seen Hooded Mergansers before.) We had a great view of all the birds, and we were delighted with the show that they put on, especially the Pelican’s take off.

It would have been nice to get some sunshine for these photos, but it was a very grey day. Still, I was happy with what I could get.

Here he goes!

Lift-Off...

and away he goes!

Thanks for dropping in today and 

I hope the rest of your week is a great one.

 

SATURDAY MORNING NOT AT THE BIRD FEEDER

 Santa's back-up team is practicing.

It will soon be Christmas, and

Santa and the Reindeer are going out on 

practice runs making sure things run 

smoothly for his ride on Christmas Eve night.

The Pelicans are practicing too, as they 

will be standing by in case Santa 

needs his very important backup team,

It's never happened that Santa 

has not had his reindeer 

to deliver to all little girls and boys.

But, just in case....

the Pelicans do lots of practice runs,

with the support of the home team.

And so it goes in the head of this whimsical blogger.  

15 days to go 'til Christmas.  

Thanks for visiting!  

May your weekend be a great one.

BROWN PELICAN PHOTOS FROM MY SISTER-IN-LAW

 A study in Brown Pelicans for you today.  I love watching them skim along the shore, and I thought Gregg's sister's photographs were fabulous.

Here are some facts about them.

Brown pelicans are the only species to dive into the water from 9 m (30 ft) above to capture prey. After catching the prey and a lot of water, they tip their bill downward to drain the water before swallowing the fish.

While brown pelicans are known for diving, they will never be deep divers due to the extensive system of subcutaneous air-sacs that give them their buoyancy in the water.

The pelican's pouch (gular pouch) is used as a dip net to catch fish, which are soon swallowed into the stomach (the center of gravity) so that they can maintain their balance while flying.

They have an extendable sac of skin at the base of their throat, which is capable of holding up to 11 liters (3 gallons) of water, several times more than their belly.

Most fossil species of pelican are placed in the same genus as the modern pelican due to extreme anatomical similarities. This suggests that the present form of pelican has changed very little over the past 30 to 40 million years.

The brown pelican, the smallest of the Pelecanidae family, can fly up to 48 kph (30 mph).

Its gular pouch may be used to disperse heat as well as to collect fish and rainwater.

Brown pelicans are best adapted to living alongside humans. They are frequently seen at fishing ports up and down the coast, opportunistically feeding on fish scraps discarded by fisherman.

I bring you these photos with thanks again to my sister-in-law.  Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your week.

AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS - PHOTOS TAKEN WHILE IN FLORIDA A FEW YEARS AGO

We were at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, link here.

A lot of the birds are wild and tend to fly into the park in droves when it is feeding time for the resident birds.

One of the ladies who worked there told me this, as I watched her throw fish from a big bucket to the resident birds.  She was mostly accurate but if a bird was too slow and her aim was an inch off and  splashed into the water, one of the happy visitors was able to grab a morsel or two.

The American White Pelican is indigenous to North America, but the earliest pelican fossil on record is 30 million years' old when a skull was found in France. 

The bump on its beak appears on both male and female pelicans during breeding season, but once breeding season is over it disappears.  Their breeding season lasts from late March to early May.  

You can learn more about them at this link.

Thanks for dropping by 

and have a great weekend.