Bird
Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
The brown pelican is a large bird with a white head, pale yellow on the crown, the long bill is greyish in colour. Their back, rump and tail are streaked with grey and dark brown, the breast and belly are blackish brown, their eyes are pale yellow and legs and feet are black. Juvenile pelicans have brownish-grey necks and white underparts. The brown pelican most distinguish feature is a large, thi
Description
The brown pelican is a large bird with a white head, pale yellow on the crown, the long bill is greyish in colour. Their back, rump and tail are streaked with grey and dark brown, the breast and belly are blackish brown, their eyes are pale yellow and legs and feet are black. Juvenile pelicans have brownish-grey necks and white underparts. The brown pelican most distinguish feature is a large, thick, long beak with a hooked tip and a large pouch beneath. They have an extendable sac of skin at the base of their throat which is capable of holding 3 gallons of water. They have special air sacs beneath their skin that they inflate just before impact to protect internal organs. Brown pelicans dive head first into the water and use their bills as a giant scoop. Their pouch is also used as a cooling mechanism and as a trough for young pelicans to retrieve food. Pelicans incubate their eggs with the skin of their webbed feet by standing on the eggs to keep them warm. Brown pelicans are able to drink saltwater due to the salt glands that are able to excrete salt in such high concentrations that makes the drinking of saltwater tolerable. They are very social and live in flocks of mixed genders and age groups.