The Galapagos Pelicans are really cool birds! The type of pelican on the islands are called the Brown Pelican. They are about 40 inches tall and their wings are 90 inches long! Brown Pelicans weigh about ten pounds. They are very good at flying but not as good at plunge diving. The pelicans are also extremely skilled and fast swimmers, a baby pelican once swam at 3 miles per hour.
Plunge diving is how the pelicans catch their food, but they also get a ton of water in their pouch, which they have to try and spit out without losing their meal. The Brown Pelican's pouch is the largest in their family. Baby pelicans eat out of their parents' pouches because it is hard to learn how to catch their food without dropping it and a lot of baby pelicans on the island die because they can't learn how.
Brown Pelicans live for a really long time, one lived till 43 years old! They start to breed at about 3 years. Brown Pelicans are very social and mostly can be seen living in colonies. Baby Pelicans are helpless when they are born, but they start to fly at 75 days old. The Galapagos is not the only place you can find these birds, they also come from all over the Americas in the gulf coasts, and the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana!
Adult pelicans look a little different than younger pelicans. If you see a pelican that is all grey, even the beak, and it has a brown body, then you are looking at a younger brown pelican. Older brown pelicans have a white neck, grayish upper body, and dark brown lower body.
Juvenile Adult www.photoseek.photoshelter.com
http://ibc.lynxeds.com
If you are looking for a Brown Pelican nest, you should look in Mangrove trees or in low bushes by the coast. Female Brown Pelicans lay two to three eggs at a time, and the male Brown Pelicans stay with the female and the new babies throughout incubation, and after the birds hatch.
The Brown Pelican diet includes mostly fish. In the Pacific Ocean, Brown Pelicans eat a lot of sardines and anchovies. The Brown Pelican has amazing eyesight, and it helps them by being able to spot a single fish from way up in the air. When the dive, air sacks in their skin act like air bags when they hit the water.
Youtube:Pelican catching and eating a fish-NetroYT
If you want to read more about Brown Pelicans, click here, here, or here. These links were my sources to making this blog post.
How do you think that the traits of the Brown Pelicans help them survive on the Galapagos Islands?
If some of the babies of the Brown Pelicans can't learn how to eat food and die, are they endangered or falling in population? It seems if there are less and less of the new generation, there wouldn't be as many of the birds, and their population would be slowly declining. Also how are the birds able to drink all the salt water in the ocean if their constantly getting food and drinking all the salty water when they get food everyday?
ReplyDeleteSome traits of the pelicans, specifically their nesting in Mangrove trees and having a large pouch, have definitely helped them survive on the Galapagos Islands. Mangrove trees are common in the Galapagos, therefore the fact that they are a main nesting spots for brown pelicans have helped them over time. Their large pouch also helps them survive by allowing the adult pelicans to bring food to their children who cannot yet catch their food because without this trait many of the young pelicans would not be able to survive. Their eyesight helps them catch fish, which is obviously helps them survive; however, if the pelicans are always struggling to get rid of the salt water without losing their meal, why haven't they developed a better way to hunt for food over time?
ReplyDeleteI think the key trait for the Brown Pelican's survival is the large pouch, with the pouch they can store more food for them and their children which is a key element to surviving in the wild. It is also very sad how many of the babies die because they can't learn how to hunt, that is very tragic. I thought all pelicans were good at plunge diving but apparently not the Brown Pelican, that's cool.
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