Pelican, bird: description and description. Pink, black and white and curly pelicans

Most likely, there is no such person on Earth who would not be familiar with this bird. It is so unusual that even a child learns from the pictures of a pelican. He is the only member of the family with the same name. Despite this, almost all continents distributed pelican. This bird is very large and has Several unusual features that allow you to recognize it among others. Varieties of it have small differences in size, shape and color.

What is unusual about Pelican

This bird differs from others in the shape of the beak. It is very long and wide, exceeding the length of the head about five times. Such a large and capacious beak is not found in any bird on the planet. A distinctive feature of the pelican is a leathery bag in its base, in which up to 15 liters of water is placed. With its help, these birds catch fish. They can carry up to 4 kilograms of prey in it. In addition, this bag is densely permeated with capillaries and used in heat for thermoregulation.

Despite its slowness and visible heaviness, pelicans swim very well, fly fast, can soar. A brown pelican can swiftly rush from a height into the water for prey. In order to mitigate the effects of such diving, between the bones of these birds is a lot of air bags, and on the chest - a pillow of feathers. But the other species can not dive, however, the interlayer of air between the feathers helps them to stay well on the water.

Another species of these birds is unusual: a white pelican. It is sometimes called the rhinoceros. After all, he has a small outgrowth in the middle of the hindleg, resembling a horn. The feathers are white, with black edges, so sometimes it is sometimes called Black and white.

Another amazing feature of these birds is that they do not have nostrils, they breathe right through the beak. Usually pelicans are silent and seldom make any sounds. But those that you can hear, more like grunting, growling or grumbling, and not bird voices. Having seen this unusual creature at least once, you will never forget what a pelican bird looks like.

Description and appearance

This is one of the largest birds, reaching a length of almost two meters. The wingspan is almost three meters, and the weight is up to 15 kilograms. What are the signs of a pelican? So:

• Awkward massive body;
• Very large wings, their swing reaches more than three meters;
• Short legs with a web between the fingers;
• Long curved neck;
• A wide and large beak with a leathery bag at the bottom;
• Loosely adhering plumage and an air layer under the skin, helping them to fly and swim.

Lifestyle

Pelican is a waterfowl that inhabits near lakes, rivers and along the shores of the seas. They like shallows, quiet backwaters, river estuaries and small fish-rich lakes. They do not walk very well, clumsily climbing, but they fly and fly well. Because of the huge beak and long curved neck in flight, pelicans are easy to take for prehistoric animals. They really belong to the most ancient birds that lived on Earth more than 20 million years ago.

Pelicans eat fish and therefore spend a lot of time on the water, but they sleep and nest on land. They live in fairly large colonies, the size of which can reach up to 10 thousand birds. Despite their cumbersome and wild appearance, they are quite peaceful. It is very rare to notice fights arising from feed or building material for the nest. Pelicans fight with their beaks, striking each other hard.

Most of them in the southern regions of the planet, but live pelicans on all continents, except Antarctica. The individuals living in the northern regions refer to migratory birds.

Species of pelicans

Eight species belong to this family, and only two of them are found on the territory of Russia. This pelican is curly and pink. The names of subspecies are related to the characteristics of birds and reflect their color or appearance. There is also a black and white pelican, gray and brown. Some species are listed in the Red Book. They die from the poisoning of rivers and seas by chemicals, draining swamps, and also because of catching birds to harvest the skins that go to tailoring.

Six species of pelicans live near freshwater rivers and lakes, and only two prefer the seashore - brown and Chilean. But they are all asleep on land, so it's impossible to meet these birds in the sea.

Almost all pelicans are the same in behavior, differ only in appearance and size. One of the species inhabiting America stands apart. Brown pelican, unlike the rest, can dive, entering the water from a height. Often it reaches 20 meters. In order not to damage the neck when it strikes against the water, the bird tilts the head and presses it to the back.

And the rest to dive is hampered by the presence of a large number of air bubbles between the feathers. Here is such an unusual pelican-bird. Photos of them in flight or during a hunt show how beautiful and amazing they are.

How pelicans fly

This heavy massive bird can take off only from a take-off, noisily pounding its wings. But in flight, they do not look awkward at all. They gently flap their wings, skillfully use the ascending streams of air and soar, they can also ascend spirally high up. In flight, they can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour. The pelicans keep their necks curved, throwing their heads back, so that the long beak does not outweigh. When they fly a long distance, the birds line up with a wedge. A flock of these birds in flight is a very beautiful sight. Sitting pelicans on the water, braking their paws and noisily splashing about it.

How Pelicans Hunt

This is a schooling bird, so they also procure food in groups. Pelicans hunt in different ways. Very often a flock of birds walks in shallow water, lowering their beaks into the water and scooping it with their "nets". Fishes also get there. To keep slippery booty at the end of the beak, they have a hook. Use pelicans of it and in order to catch a large fish.

Having scooped up the water, the pelican lifts its head and squeezes it out of its beak, swallowing all the caught fish. If a large fish is caught in the beak, the bird must first toss it up so that it turns in the flight head down. Only so he can swallow it. At this time, these slow-moving birds sometimes get prey stolen by gay seagulls.

To drive the fish into shallow water, pelicans clap their noisy wings. Sometimes they become two lines and drive the fish towards each other. Very interesting is the way of hunting in the brown pelican. He rises high into the sky and dives with a noise, striking his chest against the water. On the chest of this bird is a large pillow of feathers, so it does not harm the blow, but the fish from a strong crash stalls and floats to the surface, becoming an easy prey for birds.

Nesting of pelicans

Most of these birds nest on trees or shrubs, building large nests of twigs and other similar debris. The builder is the female, and the male brings the material. Sometimes several pairs build one large nest, which is a huge bunch of branches, feathers, leaves and litter. But large pelicans nest on the ground in thickets of grass or reeds, and sometimes - right on the stones, using their feathers for construction.

The female lays only 2-3 eggs, which have a yellowish or bluish color. She nasizhivaet them for a month. Chicks hatch naked and blind. Only after two weeks they dress down, and remain helpless for more than two months. All this time, parents feed the chick half-digested fish directly from their beaks. It is interesting to observe the feeding process from the side, when the toddler puts his head in the wide-open beak of an adult bird.

Pelicans living in our country

In the Black Sea coast, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, in the Altai and in Kazakhstan, a pink pelican nests. Its peculiarity is that the feathers have a pinkish coloration with a black border along the edge. His legs are also pink, and the bag under his beak is yellow. There is also a buffy spot on the chest. On the head of this bird is a tall crest of sharpened feathers. This is similar to another species that lives in our country - a curly pelican, which is larger and does not have a pink color. Its feathers are white with gray tint, paws are also gray. They called him that, because on his head and neck his feathers are slightly twisted and form something like mane. These pelicans are endangered species and protected.

Attitude to this bird in different countries

Pelican is a bird so unusual that from ancient times many legends and myths were composed about it. In Muslims, the pelican was considered a sacred bird that helped build the Mecca. The Turkic peoples politely called him "Baba-bird." Honored him also in Europe. The way of feeding their own children caused respect, and he became a symbol of the selfless love of parents. Until now, the image of a pelican nursing the nestlings was made at the entrance to the Petersburg Pedagogical University.