I've been enjoying the White Pelicans all winter in our backyard lake so I thought I would share their beauty with you all. I took this picture the other day, they move so fast on the water it's unbelievable. But very soon they will be leaving to fly north for the summer but every November they come back for a winter in Riverview. They are the true "snowbirds"!
With a wingspan as great as nine and a half feet, the American white pelican is one of North America's largest birds. Unlike the brown pelican, which is found year-round in Florida, and non-breeding white pelican juveniles, healthy adult white pelicans are winter visitors to the state. In the summer, white pelican adults breed in colonies on lakes in the interior of western Canada and the northwestern United States. Winters are spent in southern Mexico, southern California and along the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
White pelicans feed differently than brown pelicans. They do not plunge dive as brown pelicans do, instead white pelicans float on the surface, submerge their heads and scoop up fish. They also often fish cooperatively in small groups, herding the fish in front of them.
In flight, white pelicans have a graceful strong flight and usually fly in large flocks high in the air and in a V formation. Adults are a distinctive white with black wing tips. The bill, legs and toes are reddish-orange or pink.
White pelicans feed differently than brown pelicans. They do not plunge dive as brown pelicans do, instead white pelicans float on the surface, submerge their heads and scoop up fish. They also often fish cooperatively in small groups, herding the fish in front of them.
In flight, white pelicans have a graceful strong flight and usually fly in large flocks high in the air and in a V formation. Adults are a distinctive white with black wing tips. The bill, legs and toes are reddish-orange or pink.
1 comment:
Joni that is one gorgeous photo!! You need to blow it up and frame it!
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