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American White
Pelican |
Ballerinas
of the sky” would not usually
come to mind when describing the
American White Pelican. However
clumsy they are on land, they become
transformed as they soar in graceful
flight, circling in huge flocks.
There are eight species of pelicans:
the American White is not only
the largest but also the only white
colored pelican. White pelicans
live in the coastal areas of Southern
California and the Gulf of Mexico. In
the Spring and summer, they migrate
inland to freshwater lakes, and
fly north to Canada.
Most of us envision a pelican
diving from a great height, wings
tucked back, hitting the water
with such force that it seems impossible
it will resurface. In North
America these are the brown pelicans
and they have different feeding
habits, and habitats, from white
pelicans.
White pelicans appear totally
white when resting, but once they
open their wings, the leading edge
feathers are black. A long orange
bill is tipped with a slight downward
hook which is used for preening
and egg turning. Their short,
stubby orange legs end with large
inward facing webbed feet. They
are huge birds, with up to a nine
foot wing span, and stand up to
four feet with their necks extended. White
pelicans have a vertebra in their
necks that prevents them from ever
lifting their faces so they always
have a bowed head.
In flight, pelicans tuck their
heads back into their bodies, like
the heron family. The signature
feature of pelicans is their expandable “lower
bill and throat pouch”. Their
bills are grey to flesh colored
as juveniles and turn bright orange
when they mature. These pouches
hang from the lower bill and throat
and can expand about six to eight
inches when they catch fish or
feed their young.
White pelicans feed on a variety
of fish, and occasionally salamanders
and crayfish, from the surface
of the water. Pulling their
pouches sideways through the water,
they strain out water holding their
bills pointing downwards, (they
can hold up to three gallons of
water), and then raise their bills
and swallow the fish.
For such a large bird they are
amazingly buoyant due to their
lightweight air filled bones and
large air sacs that act like balloons.
Very often these birds will feed
cooperatively swimming in a circle
to herd the fish into one area
before sharing the catch.
Being very sociable birds they
usually stay together in large
colonies and raise their young
together. They usually build
nests on the ground from sticks
reeds and grasses which are often
on islands in a lake safe from
mammalian predators. At mating
time the male grows a fibrous plate
on its top bill which then falls
off after a successful mating and
the eggs are produced, again this
is a feature unique to white pelicans. White
pelicans are monogamous and they
raise 2 to 4 chicks. It is
a comical to see these birds feeding
their young as the chicks almost
disappear into the adults pouch
as they dine on regurgitated food.
There is a high rate of mortality
with the chicks, as the strongest
push aside the weaker siblings
and starve them to death. Other
than ground mammals, pelicans have
few natural predators. But
life is not easy and many factors
present challenges to their survival
including habitat loss, pollution,
encroachment and disturbance of
their breeding grounds, and fishing
line/hook injuries. They
are prone to Botulism poisoning.
By Sandy Fairfield,
Education Coordinator
Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society
Merville, British Columbia, Canada
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