Watery Wednesday: American White Pelican

With a wingspan of approximately 8 to 9.5 feet and a weight of 10 to 20 lbs the American white pelican is one of the largest birds in North America.

These large white birds breed on lakes from western Minnesota west to northern California. During the winter they migrate south to wintering grounds in southern California, Florida, the gulf coast and Mexico. I photographed these pelicans at the headwaters of the Minnesota River, near the Minnesota and South Dakota border, back in August.
American white pelicans do not hunt like their brown cousins do, brown pelicans fly over the water and dive in when they see potential prey, instead they hunt by swimming in the water and using their beaks to scoop up water and prey.
The membrane that makes up the lower half of the beak can stretch to allow them to scoop up to 5 gallons of water. They then strain the water looking for fish, frogs, aquatic invertebrates and other prey. Several pelicans will often work together, swimming in circles to corral the fish and then dipping their heads underwater simultaneously to scoop them up.