Exploring Nature: P
elicans
One of my favorite birds on trips to Galveston is the white pelican. I’ve spotted this bird flying in V-formations just above the waves and also sitting on pier heads in regal fashion.
The white pelican is one big bird, standing almost four feet tall and weighing about twenty pounds. Plus it has a magnificent nine-foot wingspan. That’s longer than the wingspan of a bald eagle. Wow.
There are eight pelican species in the world and we have two species in Texas: The American white pelican and the brown pelican.
I am reminded of the Dixon Merritt poem: “A wonderful bird is the pelican/His bill will hold more than his belican.” Merritt spoke the truth in his rhyme; the amazing pouch under the white pelican’s beak can hold three gallons. That’s more than twice the capacity of its stomach. The brown pelican’s pouch only holds about one gallon.
The pelican’s bill is much longer than its head and includes a lower pouch which can contract when not in use or expand to serve as a dip-net to catch fish. The pelican scoops up the fish, raises its bill and contracts the pouch. The water is forced out and the pelican swallows the fish whole.
Adult birds feed a half-digested soup to their baby pelicans after regurgitating it up and dripping it into the baby’s mouth.
Awkward on the ground, where they waddle around and hop off balance to launch into flight, the pelican is very graceful once it is airborne and will travel in precise formations.
The brown pelican dives for its food, while the white pelican floats quietly around and scoops up fish in its huge pouch. A white pelican eats about three pounds of fish a day, mostly non-game rough fish.
The Spanish name for the pelican is alcatraz and you will no doubt recall that is also the name of a rocky island in San Francisco Bay which was once the site of a prison named after the island.
I don’t doubt many of those prisoners would have loved to join the pelicans and fly away.
