Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a North American bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae. It is one of three pelican species found in the Americas and one of only two that feeds by diving in water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to northern Chile, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower foreneck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The non-breeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the non-breeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats amphibians, crustaceans, and the eggs and nestlings of birds. It nests in colonies in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and mangroves
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H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
Nice post thanks
Thanks for your visit Kelly. 🙂
Another interesting and well illustrated post, thank you.
Thank you Susan. 🙂
beautiful captures as always!
Thanks Neha! I appreciate it. 🙂
I love these brown pelicans, we have the white here. It is great to see the variety, indeed.
They are big birds and I like to see them fish. Thanks! 🙂
Very striking birds.
They are big birds with large capacity beaks. 🙂
Such large birds! Thanks for the informative post, HJ!
Thank you very much Clare! 🙂
🙂
Great pics! Love to watch them in South Carolina!
Yes, they’re fun to watch! Thanks Kendall. 🙂
You are welcome!
Wonderful to see these brown pelican photos, HJ. I never tire of watching pelicans hunt, with that nose dive they do. The stretchy bills are so unique, and you captured the pinkness well in the preening photo on the bottom line. Great photos.
I love the slow-motion choreography when they get ready for the dive…how they fold their enormous wings to avoid breaking bone with the impact going in the water. It’s quite an experience! Thank you very much my friend. 🙂
Lovely photos, HJ! I’m seeing these beautiful birds every day right now and am having fun capturing different profiles of them. My goal is trying to capture their dive. 🙂
Yes, that’s some challenge. One day I tried it in Florida but it was kind of dark at almost sunset and the shots did not come out the way I planned it. You’d need a bright day and fast speed continuous shutter. Thank you Donna! 🙂