The first bird I saw when we got to Florida was a brown pelican. They are very cool birds. Later that same evening I was watching them fly by the balcony of our hotel room. Many flew by very close, but too fast and too late in the evening for decent photos.
So on Sunday, when Vicki took us by the St Petersburg Pier, we were in pelican heaven.
Not only was the light better, these guys were very acclimated to people. Even so, I couldn’t get closer than about 10 feet before they began to tense up their wings and prepare for liftoff, but they didn’t mind posing at all if I kept a respectful distance.
Note the variations of plumage.
More distant ones couldn’t be seen in as much detail, but I was fascinated to watch one hover, then dive straight down, head first into the ocean. It reappeared shortly thereafter, quite proud of the fish it had caught. It was impressive hunting, to see a fish underwater while airborne, and then to successfully execute that spectacular dive. I learned later that they are the only pelican species to feed this way.*
Pretty cool feet, aren’t they? Did you know that brown pelicans incubate their eggs under their foot webs?*
I also learned that they build nests in colonies, typically in “small estuarineor offshore islands,”* similar to this one, which we paused to admire on our way to the pier.
Got birds?
*Shields, Mark. 2002. Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Viewed online 3/7/2010 (Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/609; doi:10.2173/bna.609)
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Thanks to Kay for the pointer to Dixon Merritt. I would have sworn Ogden Nash, but I would have been wrong.
I met my first pelican while snorkeling in Tortola. I was floating facedown, enjoying the soft sound of the waves, when a GREAT BIG GIANT BROWN THING WITH WINGS!! cannonballed into the water right beside me, going after a fish and scaring me half to death in the process. I swallowed a quart of water and said some unladylike words while trying to gain my composure again.
In spite of the rude introduction, I think they’re positively lovely birds.
That is a close encounter, Joy. I can tell you’re a serious nature lover, since you developed pelican appreciation rather than pelican phobia.
That must have been an amazing experience.
They look so regal in a way, like nothing can disturb them.
And yet another bird I’ve never seen in the wild, a Pelican, let alone a wild one.
I think they are beautiful, and as you note, quite regal. Many people think they are silly-looking, or clownish. Just because of the large, extensible bill. Go figure!
Nice shots! My BPW post also includes a brown pelican (among others.) They’re our state bird here in Louisiana (although I’ve never seen any that’ll let people anywhere near them!)
The truly wild ones wouldn’t let us get close to them either, Lana, but this group obviously wasn’t going to let wild instincts get in the way of a handout.
Great close-ups of the Brown Pelicans. I’m glad the pelican populations over there are doing well. We had some problems ever here where the Brown Pelicans were dying from hunger. Many were rescued and rehabilitated though.
The ones in California had some problems between the weather and the food supply, but I didn’t hear of anything similar in Florida.
Great web shot!
A wonderful bird is the pelican
His bill can hold more than his belican!
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week.
Don’t ask me how the hell he can.
Aren’t those cool feet? I just loved getting that photo. And Ogden Nash has been running through my brain, too.
KaHolly, in a reply to a blog I wrote about Pelicans (quoting the poem that kept running through my brain too!) tells me that the poem is by Dixon Merritt. I always thought it was Ogden Nash, too, until someone told me it wasn’t. I agree that the pelican is a wonderful bird!
Your photos are great. What beautiful birds. I really like your blog and will be following it to see what you see!
–Kay
(http://arroyocoloradoriverblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/ive-spent-day-watching-brown-pelicans.html)
Great photos of the Brown Pelican very different to our Australian Pelicans, would be great to see them feeding like that.
It is awesome to watch that dive. Birds are pretty amazing sometimes.
Excellent photos of the pelicans, such charismatic birds, aren’t they? I love the feet shot – cool! and that first one is definitely posing for you, beautiful!
I’m really glad the feet turned out as well as they did. I was hoping others would find them as interesting as I did.
Great photos of very interesting birds. Pelicans are always interesting to watch – and I spend so much time taking more and more photos of them!
Thanks, Mick. They look rather prehistoric, don’t they?
Beautiful shots of the Brown Pelican Wren! I love that shot of the feet and the nesting trees. I didn’t know that they incubate their eggs under their feet! Amazing.
I really like the new look of your blog too. Very cool.
Thanks on both counts, Larry.
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