(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Daily Bucket: Friday Sequence, What is that big fleshy thing pushed up in the Pelican's beak? [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-11-11
Here are a few more photos giving a clue about the question raised in the title.
After the photos, I will give the answer and follow that with a good video expanding on the answer.
Why does the Pelican raise its beak way up in the air?
Even opening the beak at some point.
Another view.
And another.
enlarge There’s that bulge again.
Open but not so far up in the air.
And partially open when facing down.
All of the above show a Pelican yawning. Yes, that’s yawning. Here is a YouTube with a video giving more background.
Now that you know one behavior of Pelicans that few knew before, you can just sit back without thinking and enjoy some Pelican poses.
Here is one of the sea stacks stacked with Pelicans.
Understand, though, that there were Cormorants and a gull or two present.
There was much flapping and preening.
There was also a lot of coming and going.
This shows the difference between the lighter head and neck on some and the darker head and neck on another.
Before I get to the PIF, many of you like to see the big picture.
We live in Seattle, toward the middle top of the map. The photos were taken near Newport, OR, about a five hour drive from Seattle.
Here is a map Newport, OR. Our lodging was on a cliff right above the beach, near the word “Newport” and the photos were taken at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, in the upper left of the map.
Looking down on the sea stacks from our hike up Salal Hill. Taken with my iPhone so no use zooming. If you look closely, you can see the tightly packed Pelicans on the two large sea stacks to the right of the tree.
Yaquina Lighthouse Beach. Notice the stairway accessing the beach area. The sea stacks are to the left.
Now, for what is the only view some see of Pelicans, are PIF — Pelicans in Flight.
Pelicans were constantly coming and going, doing their fishing in other locations.
Sometimes, close to the water.
At other times, high above the water.
This photo struck me as a funny one open to many quips.
A majestic flyer.
Landing gear lowered.
Under wings.
On top of wings.
A pair.
A trio. There were more in a line, but the photos didn’t turn out well.
Audublog
15 cool and interesting things about Brown Pelicans
1. Brown Pelicans make their spectacular dives into the water from as high as 65 feet.
2. If humans dove into the water at such a height over and over, we’d probably hurt ourselves. But pelicans have adapted to protect themselves. They have special air sacs beneath their skin that they inflate just before impact to protect internal organs. And as they dive, they rotate to the left, to avoid injuring their trachea and esophagus, which run along the right side of their neck.
3. There are a number of collective nouns for pelicans, but our favorites are: "brief,” "pod," "pouch," "scoop," “squadron,” and “rookery.”
4. The oldest known Brown Pelican lived 43 years.
5. There’s that poem by Dixon Lanier Merritt:
Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican,
His bill can hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak,
Food enough for a week,
But I’m damned if I see how the helican.
6. The poem is actually right – a Brown Pelican’s pouch near its bill will indeed hold more than its belly. The pouch will hold up to three gallons of water, with the stomach will hold about one gallon.
7. Pelicans have learned that they can get a better aim at fish under water if they dive at a steep angle, between 60 and 90 degrees, which reduces water refraction.
8. The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.
9. While the Brown Pelican is awkward on land, to say the least, it is a beautiful and intelligent flyer. Often, a group of pelicans will fly in a V-formation, which is probably where the collective noun "squadron" came from. They are also known to fly low over the water, taking advantage of what is called slope lift, light upward breezes reflected from the tops of waves. Plus, it looks cool when they do this.
10. If the Brown Pelican looks a little prehistoric, it is because the basic features of all pelicans have changed very little in the last 30-40 million years.
11. Adult Brown Pelicans incubate their eggs with their webbed feet.
12. Gulls will often try to steal fish from the Brown Pelican’s pouch as it drains the water out.
13. While Brown Pelicans will crash dive into the water for fish, the only other North American pelican -- the American White Pelican will simply dive for fish from the surface.
14. The Brown Pelican nearly disappeared from North America in the 1960s and 1970s due to DDT, but has made an impressive comeback in recent years.
15. Male attracts a female by selecting a nest site and enticing her to build a nest together.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was hard to limit the photos on this one. Ms. JG and I were out watching for over 7 hours each of our two full days and several hours each on the days we had our long drive. Harlequin Ducks and Black Turnstones are future Buckets from this trip.
Now it’s your turn to add a comment or photo. Sequences are nice, but not required at all.
--------------------------
I would like to remember thank all the veterans out there. A big shout out to all that have served supporting our country.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/11/2134172/-Daily-Bucket-Friday-Sequence-What-is-that-big-fleshy-thing-pushed-up-in-the-Pelican-s-beak
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
