Witnessed four Brown Pelicans feeding before sunset in Shoreline / Baylands, South SF Bay Area. It was an amazing experience to watch them up close – gliding, hovering against the wind, diving head down and enjoying their catch.
What I found interesting is they glide so fast, and though they are big birds, they slow down to a stop against the wind right above their target and swoop down headfirst into the water. Their glide is like scanning for fish, then coming back and using the wind to hold position as they look for their food and making the plunge once spotted. They make a pretty big splash with air sacs under the skin helping with the impact. What we saw were dives from at least 25 Feet up and the air sacs help with buoyancy to get them back up as well.
Scan, swoop and settle in.
Surface scan.
Wade and snack.
Hover and select target, not like the hummingbird, but against the wind.
Plunge Dive.
Enjoy the catch.
They use gravity to speed up the dive and break into the water surface, go deeper to catch fish. The fish and water go into their pouch through their long bill; water is drained as they swallow the fish.
Here I come skimming the water,
Slower and slower and rising 25 feet,
Take a pause in the breeze, a moment to look and freeze,
Time for a spear to part the way, a bucket of fish on its way.
The dives could be from over 50 Feet. Would love to see that one day.
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