American pelican: giant mouth and insatiable appetites (8 photos)

It’s convenient when you always have a backpack or bag at hand. You can throw some useful junk or something tasty in there and go about your business.





Pelicans do not need to wriggle out in any way - the storage chamber is located right in their beak. But the American pelican not only grew a pouch on his chin, but also decorated it with a huge spoiler!



Does anyone else have doubts that birds are dinosaurs?

In the United States, the pelican is a frequent visitor. The animal covers vast prairies and foothills from the spurs of the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes, extends a little into Canada and falls into Mexico. True, the pelican does not hold on to hectares tightly: in winter, the birds unanimously leave their possessions and go to Mexican resorts to swim.





Nutritionists: You need to chew your food thoroughly. Pelican: What is chewing?

“Extensiveness” is a characteristic not only of the habitat, but also of the bird itself. The feathered colossus ranks second in North America in terms of huggability (wingspan): 240–300 cm! Such huge fliers are needed to keep a solid 5–10 kg of live weight in the sky. Only the Californian condor looks at the huge pelican wings without envy, with its three meters. To be as big, you have to eat a lot. But I’m not porridge at all.



By the way, despite the giant beak and its large capacity, birds cannot fly with a filled “net”. And all because the bird becomes too heavy to rise into the air.

Pelicans have fish days every day of the week. It couldn’t be any other way: if you have a net instead of a face, then you have to use it. And for better results, you should invite your hungry friends. Then they need to be lined up in a semicircle and begin to rake water into shallow water. Thanks to teamwork, each participant in such a flash mob can grab 2 kg of fish: minnows, chubs, small carp and even trout. This is how many birds feed on a daily basis—the catch is a quarter of its own weight!



Random pelican renaissance. Canvas, oil.

All that remains is to strain the water, of which a pelican can swallow 5 liters, and enjoy the meal. But if you’re unlucky, you can always take food away from those who are weaker. Both small gulls and cormorants and rather large herons fall under the threat of hungry and inept pelicans. Such feathered gopniks are called kleptoparasites.



Catch, fish, big, and very big!

American pelicans also have another “boyish” habit - showing off. From April to early June the pelican calendar is marked in red. Or rather, bright orange, because this is what the bare skin and beak of pelican pontoresses are painted with. But all this pales in comparison to the fact that the males grow the most natural horn! The reptilian heritage serves only one purpose - to seduce the lady.



Girls, pay attention to me!!!

Fortunately, pelicans flock to nest in a horde of thousands, and there is a choice. But all this show-off will not lead to anything serious - the relationship will last one season, exactly until the chicks grow up. The new parents prepare a simple nest, and then a clutch of 2-3 eggs. Both parents take turns incubating them for almost a month. For another month, newborn pelicans hang out in their parents' apartments, and then move to colonial nurseries with other youngsters. Only by the end of summer do the babies turn into full-fledged adult pelicans.



Girl: Oh no, she's wearing the same dress as me! Meanwhile guys:

But by the time they reach adulthood so quickly, only one chick out of three remains. There are many predators at work in the colonies: seagulls steal eggs, foxes and coyotes drag away chicks, teenagers who have not yet learned to fly are dragged away by hawks and golden eagles. However, even such a horde of enemies cannot shake the population of American pelicans!