Bird’s ID – 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 feed 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 fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
Nice shots, HJ, the colors in the first image are beautiful! 🙂
You know how the sun before setting, paints everything gold and says “Good night, see you tomorrow!” Thank you Donna. 🙂
Such good pictures of a striking bird.
Thank you so much Susan! 🙂
Beautiful colours…great pics!
Thanks Indira! 🙂
Nice shots HJ, I had not seen your Pelican this close up.
They are good looking big birds, you can find them all over the coasts of USA. Thanks Ashley! 🙂
Their migration brought them over Galveston this year. There were thousands of them, streaming along the coast. They’re quite a success story here, too. There were only six nesting pairs in 1973 when annual nest surveys were begun. There were 3,051 pairs when the species was removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list in 2009, and the last nesting survey in 2012 reported 8,115 nesting pairs from 11 colonies! One thing that really helped was regulation of pesticides.
Thanks so much Linda! That’s an excellent piece of information about the Brown Pelicans. 🙂
Beautiful light HJ – we are back to civilisation! Hope all is going well for you.
Hey! There you are…You must have tons of gorgeous photos and lots of stories to tell! I’m doing fine, everything is in order, it’s a hot Summer for sure! Having changed to four days blogging, gives me plenty of time and I don’t feel pressure to do everything running. I hope that you didn’t have any difficulties being at the Reef area. I imagine that the Bundy Rum must be gone by now… Tell me more about the days there at the Reef if you’re not publishing yet! Have a great time Chris! I miss your comments! 🙂
Love the lighting in that first shot. 🙂
Thank you Kathy! The Florida sun short time before setting emits a golden light that it’s impressive! 🙂
Great post! Great photographs!
Thank you Kendall! 🙂
Welcome!
Wonderful shots, HJ!
Thank you Clare! 🙂