Pelicans

Photos by George Wall

I’m sure you’ve all heard these words:  “Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican! His bill holds more than his belican.  He can take in his beak enough food for a week, but I'm darned if I know how the helican."
 
I’ve recently seen both the Brown Pelican and the American White Pelican here in Arizona. I took the above pictures on the same day and was surprised at the difference in size when they were sitting side by side. The American White Pelican is about a foot taller than the Brown Pelican. These are the only two types found in North America, but there are six other species in the world. Pelicans have been around for 40 million years – they are an old bird.

Description:   Both birds are ponderous and heavy, but in flight they are beautiful and graceful. They have very large pouched bills and all four toes are webbed.  

Habitat:   They are found in bays, lagoons, coasts and lakes.

Diet:  They feed mainly on fish, but will eat frogs and crustaceans. The Brown Pelican dives for its food while white pelicans often fish in groups since they are more buoyant than the Brown Pelican. They will form a line to chase schools of small fish into shallow water, and then simply scoop them up. Both pelicans must drain the pouch above the surface before they can swallow.

Breeding: Both are monogamous and only have 1-3 eggs in their clutch. They are colonial in nesting and feeding.

Range:  American White Pelicans can be found in most of the U.S. and down into Mexico. The Brown Pelican is mainly found along both coasts (they can stray like here to Arizona) and all the way down.