American White Pelicans on parade

A quick Tompkins Square hawk update: We have 3 chicks! I'll have more details next week. 

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Until then, it's only early May, but I'm declaring my Bird of the Year to be the American White Pelican. I've had a lot of quality time with them this year and have loved every minute of it. The result is a gazillion photos, so here are a few until the next installment.

I previously posted about what a pelican can do with its giant bill here, here, and here.

See how long their primary feathers are.

This gaggle of pelicans fixate on a Double-Crested Cormorant who scopes the area for fish. Both species take advantage of each other while fishing. I observed cormorants scavenging after the pelicans, as well as the pelicans following the cormorants to try and steal their catch.

I saw similar behavior with this Great Egret who took advantage of the pelicans as they corralled fish into a corner of this lake. The egret would quickly nab any fish that got pushed into its path.

Once the pelicans scooped up all the fish from the back end of the lake, they'd retreat and stage the whole maneuver all over again.

The thing that fascinates me about these guys is how they move so synchronously, and silently. 

There were 100+ pelicans present on this day, but you wouldn't know it if you kept your eyes closed. For such huge birds, the only noise they made was splashing when they landed in the water or tussled over food.

 

These photos don't convey the sheer size of these birds. Their wingspan is almost twice as wide as I am tall, and they have the second-largest average wingspan of any North American bird, after the California Condor. 

There's something so serene about watching these pelicans float around in the water. I found watching them to be a great way to de-stress.

They always seem to be facing the same direction.

Being so big, taking off from the water is a big production. The pelicans need a long runway and a lot of strength to achieve liftoff.

As I said, I have a gazillion White Pelican photos, so there will be more posts. And I haven't even finished processing photos of Brown Pelicans, so I look forward to sharing those as well.