Brown Pelican

The brown pelican is a large seabird with a very long beak and a big stretchy pouch of skin underneath it. It has a heavy body, broad wings, and a calm, easy-going way of gliding just above the waves. Brown pelicans live along warm coasts all around the Americas, from sunny beaches to quiet bays and mangroves.

Of all the pelicans in the world, the brown pelican is the only one that dives from the air to fish. It flies up high, spots a fish below, then folds its wings and drops straight into the sea with a big splash. A special layer of air sacs under its skin cushions the landing, like built-in bubble wrap.

That famous pouch is the pelican's fishing net. When the bird plunges in, the pouch opens wide and scoops up fish along with lots of seawater. Then the pelican lifts its head, lets the water pour out of the sides of its beak, and swallows the fish whole. The pouch can hold about three times as much as its stomach.

Brown pelicans are sociable birds. They often fly in tidy lines close to the water, one behind another, and they rest and nest together in big, noisy groups on islands and sandbars. Fishing is easiest in daylight, so this is when they do most of their diving.

Long ago, brown pelicans were in real trouble. A chemical called DDT washed into the sea and made their eggshells so thin that the eggs broke before the chicks could hatch. Once people stopped using DDT, the pelicans slowly recovered, and today they are common again along many coasts. Keeping the ocean clean and their nesting islands safe helps make sure they stay that way.