While my family was on holiday in Mexico, they enjoyed watching the Pelicans flying over the Pacific ocean and diving into the waves to fish for their dinner.
This bird can remain in flight for hours at a time using slow, powerful wing beats.
Brown pelicans are the only species of pelican that hunts with such dramatic plunging dives.
Pelicans eat mostly fish and they require up to 4 pounds of fish a day.
They have amazing eyesight and can see a single fish from 70 feet above the water. Once they spot a fish, they fold their wings and drop from the air, diving straight into the water. They usually come back up with a mouthful of fish.
The biggest threat to Brown Pelicans has been people. In the late 1800s pelicans were hunted for their feathers. Then came a time they were hunted because it was thought that they were depleting the fish population. Then the use of the pesticide DDT in the 1940s and ’50s decimated the pelican population by thinning their eggshells.
Although the species is now doing well and has been removed from the endangered species list, threats remain. The disturbance of nesting colonies, birds entangled in monofilament fishing line or caught on fishhooks, and oil or chemical spills still pose a threat to this incredible bird.
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