| Pelicans, Pelicans, Pelicans! |
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| April 16, 2008 |
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A wonderful bird is the pelican
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
enough food for a week.
I'll be darned if I know how the heck he can.
It's a much-loved limerick often attributed to Ogden Nash, but now widely held to have been written by Dixon Lanier Merritt, and it makes fair inroads into describing this avian oddity we call the pelican.
Ungainly on land, this large, brown, duck-like bird with a huge bill is extremely graceful in the air and can glide for miles with barely a flap of its large wings. So graceful is it in the air that one might be startled to see it suddenly wheel in the sky, stall, and take a headfirst dive from 50 feet up, into the water with a splash, and emerge with a fish flapping in its bill. An awkward and clumsy dive it may seem, but can you dive into the water from 50 feet in the air and catch a fish in your mouth? No, I thought not.
Every pier and jetty has its resident brown pelicans, hoping for a free meal from the fishermen. They are quite tame so its easy to approach them to take a photo.
Adult brown pelicans have a white head and neck, with yellowish feathers on top of their head. The rest of their body is brown and gray. Juvenile birds are brown/gray all over. During the summer, the back of the white neck becomes brown in breeding birds.
There is another species of pelican that is often seen in Florida: the white pelican. It is a different species and fishes in groups in shallow water using its large bill to scoop up fish. You are much more likely to see white pelicans in Florida during the winter months. They are not as easily approached as the brown pelican.
Pelicans are beautiful and entertaining to watch. Remember that you should not feed wild pelicans. And if you accidentally hook a pelican while fishing, there are certain guidelines you should follow to safely release the bird without further injuring it or causing injury to yourself. You should not just cut the line. Here is a brief guide on how to handle a hooked bird or pelican.
On the Gulf coast, the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, located in Indian Shores (between St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach), cares for hundreds of injured pelicans and other seabirds. It's a great place to visit to get a close-up look at pelicans and all kinds of seabirds.
See you at the beach!
David McRee
Florida Beaches Expert |
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| Pelicans are often seen in small groups, hanging around on piers.The bird on the left is a juvenile. The birds on the pier railing are adults in breeding plumage. |
| Credit: David McRee, VISIT FLORIDA Beaches Expert |
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