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May 05, 2005 - The pelican's gawky graceThe Suffolk Times • May 5, 2005 The Pel* itcan's THIS IS OUR LAST' WEEK in Florida and you would think by now we'd be tired of seeing pelicans, but no, to me they're as eye- catching as the first day we saw them. The brown pelicans we see are big birds, with a wingspan of over 71/2 feet. One would think such a large bird would be clumsy in the air. On t contrary, we marvel at how maneuverable the pelican is and how such a large bird can change direction in an instant and dive on the spot to catch its meal of fish. They dive after their prey much like our ospreys do, often from heights of 60 or 70 feet. Brown pelicans catch their prey not with their feet, as the osprey does, but by opening their pouched bill and en- veloping the fish along with a bill full of water. Some say this huge bill can hold as much as three gallons of water. Then as the pelican surfaces from its dive, the water is drained out of the pouch leaving the fish to be swallowed whole. I remember as a kid hearing that never- to -be- forgotten adage: "A wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill will hold more than his belican He can take in his beak Food enough for a week, But I'm damned if I see how the heli- can." To see a Qrouv of these somewhat gawky grace Times /Review photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh Brown pelicans almost became extinct because of the devastating effects of pesticides. Today they've bounced back, thanks to the elimination of DDT and other harmful chemicals. awkward - looking but efficient birds feeding in a wild frenzy is something you'll never forget. From high up one plummets down, its long bill pointed toward the target below. With a huge splash it hits the water. All the while, others of its kind around it are dropping like rockets amongst the school of fish below each intent on catching its share. It's one of nature's unbeliev- able sights. Then, to add to the feeding frenzy, screaming gulls are continuously milling about, always trying to snatch any leftovers that might have escaped the monstrous pouches of the pelicans. y the way, this sneaking in and grabbing bits and pieces of the pelican's catch is often done right from the pelican's back. That's right. These robbers will stand right on the pelican's back or head, where they'll be closer to the action. Then, as the pelican tries to arrange its thrashing meal in its flabby bill, the gull grabs whatever it can. Pelicans are magnificent aerialists. I've seen a single pelican, as well as groups of them, capture the updraft of a thermal and climb in lazy circles, slowly working their way upward until almost out of sight. Then they'll drift off to a new and more favorable feeding ground. Talk about efficient transporta- tion. It's interesting to note that every once in a while, a few brown pelicans Focus ON NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh find their way to Long Island's south shore. Why these semi - tropical, lum- bering giants come so far north is anyone's guess. Perhaps they're carrie4 by a storm, or maybe it's the first part of the evolutionary change of explor- ing new territory. Should they be successful and find a plentiful supply of food, maybe they'll stay. Our mockingbirds, our cardinals, the titmouse and others are perfect examples of southern birds that have moved north. Time will just have to wait that one out and see. One of the memorable sights for me is a string of pelicans gliding low over the water, hardly touching a wave below. They'll fly with little pumping of wings, only to stop and glide as if they were all attached as one. And to think these pelicans were once on the endangered list. As with the osprey, pesticides had gotten into their food chain and their reproduction had dropped off to practically zero. Today we see them throughout Flori- da's coastline. Because of the banning of DDT and other harmful chemicals, they were saved, along with untold numbers of other species of birds — and, by the way, just in the nick of time for their time was running out. The white pelican, which we haven't seen here but is found in other parts of Florida, was almost eliminated by hunters who shot them for the mil- linery trade. The feathers were used on fashionable ladies' hats. Then there were the fishermen who killed the pelicans for sport and because they thought the pelicans took too many of their fish. Finally, in 1903, the fed- eral government outlawed the hunt- ing of these birds and established the first wildlife refuge in Florida for the protection of the pelican and other targeted birds.-Later, the pelican was in trouble again, until it was proved it was not competing with commercial fishing, During World War I, Florida fisher- men suspected pelicans of depleting their fishing grounds. There was a war effort to eat more fish, and federal protection of pelicans was almost with- drawn. A party of ornithologists led by Gilbert Person made 3,428 pelicans regurgitate their food and found that only 27 of the fish they had eaten were the kind humans eat. So the pelicans were saved! The white pelican feeds differently from the brown pelican. It dips its big, baggy bill in the water while swim- ming along and scoops up water and fish. Sometimes a group of as many as 100 white pelicans will surround fish, scooping them up as they move in on them. They do not dive from above lik the brown pelican, nor do they roost in trees like the brown pelican; they roost on sand bars and flats where they congregate for the night. The white pelican is a larger bird than the brown pelican, with a wingspan of nine feet. In the spring the white pelicans depart for the Northwest, where they nest on inland lakes. We hope you've enjoyed spending some time in Florida with us, even though it's late in the season. Now, next week we'll have to catch up to spring- time on the North Fork.