The Pelicanidae - Awkward Yet Graceful Pelicans

By Ed Snyder/Outdoors

Bolivar Peninsula, TX.

American White Pelican - (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) - Awkward but amusing to watch when waddling about on land, but surprisingly graceful to observe when in flight or water-born, the white pelican, as clumsy as it can be is as majestic as it is. The White Pelican are migratory birds, spending their summers northward and wintering southward, are rather large feathered creatures that journey to the Bolivar area around mid October.

The first time we spot them provides an amazing sight when lofty flocks of up to 100 pelicans are seen flashing white spiraling high in the sky before slowly rotating earthward landing on distant marshes or salt ponds. Even the landings of these large birds are amazing to watch when winging in feet first with the graceful agility of swans.

Of the six species of pelicans found here in Texas, all of them have throat pouches for which the pelicans are famous for. Although their large, flexible pouches expand to catch fish, different species of pelicans utilize their pouches in a variety of ways.

Most pelicans, including the white, feed by swimming in tight groups forming "U" shape line groupings when driving fish into tight groups by beating their wings on the surface. When fish are massed in tight schools the pelicans then begin scooping them up in their pouches, draining the excess water before swallowing their prey.

On the other hand the Brown Pelicans dive on fish from above winging high then folding their wings back to power dive into the school of fish, trapping them in their bills before swallowing them. It’s an amazing thing to watch as they dive “helter skelter” head first for their food like WWII dive bombers on a combat mission.

Pelicans are found all along the entire Texas coastline as well as on lakes, rivers and ponds. Being social birds they typically travel in large flocks, often strung out in a long oblique formations like a string of pearls. They also breed in groups called colonies, which typically gather on islands or small islets in the bays.

In Texas, the brown pelican are endangered, but populations are recovering to some extent. These large sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, such as DDT, which damaged their eggs and the eggs of many other species such as the Bald Eagle. But now even more so with coastal power lines creating an obstacle with the browns crashing into the lines causing instant death or damaged wings from which a painful deferred death is the end result.

The American white pelican, both male and female, show off their bright orange bills sporting knobs, or horns on their bills during mating rituals, strutting around, bowing, and taking short flights in an attempt to attract mates. The female lays up to three eggs in a depression on the ground or on a mound of vegetation and dirt. Both parents incubate eggs with their large webbed feet! The eggs hatch in about a month. If the female lays more than one egg, usually only the strongest one will survive.

Hatched naked at birth, the chicks are covered with a white down at ten days old and will fledge (feather) when 17 to 18 days old. Both parents care and feed the young by letting the chick scoop regurgitated food from their pouches. Older chicks will leave the nest joining pods or nurseries of young pelicans when about a month old.

The American white pelican breeds in the isolated northern areas of Manitoba, Canada and Minnesota west to northern California migrating to its wintering grounds located in California, Mexico, Central America, and along the Gulf Coasts from Texas to Florida. They will weigh 10 pounds with wingspans of 10 feet and can live for up to 25 years or more. Among the larger birds in America the White Pelican stand 4 feet tall or more.

Enjoy watching these entertaining and graceful birds until the end of February when the white pelicans start their long spring migration back to their northern nesting grounds. But until then get out into the wild to watch these, and other magnificent migratory birds as they go through their daily routines of survival.

The Pelicanidae - Awkward Yet Graceful Pelicans

By Ed Snyder/Outdoors

Bolivar Peninsula, TX.

American White Pelican - (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) - Awkward but amusing to watch when waddling about on land, but surprisingly graceful to observe when in flight or water-born, the white pelican, as clumsy as it can be is as majestic as it is. The White Pelican are migratory birds, spending their summers northward and wintering southward, are rather large feathered creatures that journey to the Bolivar area around mid October.

The first time we spot them provides an amazing sight when lofty flocks of up to 100 pelicans are seen flashing white spiraling high in the sky before slowly rotating earthward landing on distant marshes or salt ponds. Even the landings of these large birds are amazing to watch when winging in feet first with the graceful agility of swans.

Of the six species of pelicans found here in Texas, all of them have throat pouches for which the pelicans are famous for. Although their large, flexible pouches expand to catch fish, different species of pelicans utilize their pouches in a variety of ways.

Most pelicans, including the white, feed by swimming in tight groups forming "U" shape line groupings when driving fish into tight groups by beating their wings on the surface. When fish are massed in tight schools the pelicans then begin scooping them up in their pouches, draining the excess water before swallowing their prey.

On the other hand the Brown Pelicans dive on fish from above winging high then folding their wings back to power dive into the school of fish, trapping them in their bills before swallowing them. It’s an amazing thing to watch as they dive “helter skelter” head first for their food like WWII dive bombers on a combat mission.

Pelicans are found all along the entire Texas coastline as well as on lakes, rivers and ponds. Being social birds they typically travel in large flocks, often strung out in a long oblique formations like a string of pearls. They also breed in groups called colonies, which typically gather on islands or small islets in the bays.

In Texas, the brown pelican are endangered, but populations are recovering to some extent. These large sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, such as DDT, which damaged their eggs and the eggs of many other species such as the Bald Eagle. But now even more so with coastal power lines creating an obstacle with the browns crashing into the lines causing instant death or damaged wings from which a painful deferred death is the end result.

The American white pelican, both male and female, show off their bright orange bills sporting knobs, or horns on their bills during mating rituals, strutting around, bowing, and taking short flights in an attempt to attract mates. The female lays up to three eggs in a depression on the ground or on a mound of vegetation and dirt. Both parents incubate eggs with their large webbed feet! The eggs hatch in about a month. If the female lays more than one egg, usually only the strongest one will survive.

Hatched naked at birth, the chicks are covered with a white down at ten days old and will fledge (feather) when 17 to 18 days old. Both parents care and feed the young by letting the chick scoop regurgitated food from their pouches. Older chicks will leave the nest joining pods or nurseries of young pelicans when about a month old.

The American white pelican breeds in the isolated northern areas of Manitoba, Canada and Minnesota west to northern California migrating to its wintering grounds located in California, Mexico, Central America, and along the Gulf Coasts from Texas to Florida. They will weigh 10 pounds with wingspans of 10 feet and can live for up to 25 years or more. Among the larger birds in America the White Pelican stand 4 feet tall or more.

Enjoy watching these entertaining and graceful birds until the end of February when the white pelicans start their long spring migration back to their northern nesting grounds. But until then get out into the wild to watch these, and other magnificent migratory birds as they go through their daily routines of survival.