… 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 helican.”

 Dixon Lanier Merrit, 1910 

 

 

 

 

The Australian Pelican is a familiar sight and can be found in waterways and coastal areas all around Australia. Basically where there are fish there are pelicans. I’m sure that I’m not alone in being slightly amused by the sight of them. That large beak and pouch looks somewhat comical and birds that size shouldn’t really be able to fly – how do they get airborne? 

 

 

Australian pelicans are the second largest flying bird in Australia, only the brolga is bigger. Although on the small size compared to other pelican species the Aussie comes in 4-13Kg (males are larger than females) and have a wing span of up to 2.5m. That’s a lot of bird. That bill is the largest of any bird measuring up to 50cm in length. They are highly evolved animals that owe their success to a number of strange features. 

 

 

That distinctive bill and pouch is not for storing fish to eat later, but is rather used as a net to trap fish and other marine life. As the pelican trawls the pouch can hold up to 13 litres of water and food. When it is time to eat the bird lifts its bill out of the water and pushes it against its chest to expel the water and then it flips its prey around so that it can be swallowed head first. They don’t just eat marine life, they will eat small ducks, seagulls and small mammals. They will even steal the fish that other birds, such as ospreys, have caught. In all an adult pelican will eat up to 2Kg of fish a day. On a hot day the pouch is also used as a cooling system – the bird swings it about to cool down.

 

 

Despite their size they have a light weight skeleton that has air pockets. This means that it weighs less than 10% of the total body weight which enables them to fly and remain buoyant in water. They also have a number of air cells under their skin which are connected to the respiratory system and act as floats. This gives the pelican the ability to float with very little of its body below the surface of the water which has the effect of minimising energy expenditure when swimming. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most amazing facts about the Australian pelican are when it comes to flight. Their large wings enable them to soar on thermal currents at altitudes up to 3000m and they can stay airborne like this for up to 24 hours. It makes for an incredibly efficient means of flying. When taking off a pelican will often fly incredibly low over water – they almost skim the surface. By this they take advantage of the “ground effect” which reduces drag and increases lift. The air flows between the wings and the water’s surface where it is compressed and exerts a strong upward force pushing the bird up and this again minimises the amount of energy expended. This energy efficiency is important because an adult pelican will often commute from its nesting site 150Km to find food.

 

 

The Australian pelican maybe cut a comical figure, but they look like that for very specific reasons.