This is an American white pelican. They live in North America. In Wisconsin, lots of pelicans migrate through, but some decide to stay here for the summer. The one in this picture lives at the NEW Zoo in Green Bay.
American white pelicans are big birds. They build a nest and the female lays 2 or 3 eggs. When they hatch, both the male and female take care of the chicks.
Unlike the brown pelican, which dives into the water from the air for fish, American white pelicans do not dive. They swim on top of the water and stick their beaks in for fish. They have a stretchy throat sac under their bill for holding fish. They like to fish in groups, so they can chase the fish to each other. You usually don’t see a pelican all by itself.
On Tuesday, my Grandpa Miller told us that there were a bunch of pelicans living in the Fox River at Olde Oneida Street near his office. So we went to go take a look. There were a whole bunch of pelicans sitting in a line on a wall in the river. The water was moving very fast, and some pelicans were sitting in the water riding down the river. Then they would fly up river, land in the water, and go for a ride again. They looked like they were having fun.
We went over to the other side of the river and got a nice closeup view of three pelicans swimming and perching on a branch.
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Thank you Raymie for your American White Pelican post. You inspired me to see if I could see them for myself. After walking all around the area and seeing lots of other birds, I was about to give up and there it was. A beautiful pelican with a large white body standing by itself on a rock in the middle of the river. It had long golden legs and long golden bill. It looked like a million dollar bird unlike any other. There were many doves surrounding him floating on the river. He looked like the king of the hill. Thanks again Raymie for inspiring me with your love of birds and animals.
Thanks, Uncle Jim, for the Sea Monkeys! I’ll make a post about them when they hatch.