Pelicans

The Pelicans page contains 60 images of White Pelicans in flight, takeoffs and landings, herding fish
 and puttering about on the surface of the pond in the autumn and winter at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
Included are several support images of Brown Pelicans taken in Southern California and Florida.

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Coots and Grebes          Cormorants           Ducks and Geese

Egrets and Herons          Hummingbirds          Common Loon

Pelicans     Phoebes and Blackbirds     Raptors     Assorted Wildlife

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White Pelican            Brown Pelican

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PelicanFlight_0330


Pelican Flight 0330

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Pelican Flight 0527

White Pelicans in flight at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

The American White Pelican (along with the Trumpeter Swan) is one of the largest birds in North America,
with the second longest wingspan after the California Condor. It uses its broad 9-10 ft. wings to soar in flight.

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Pelican 0311

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Pelican 0216

Posing Pelicans at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

Like all Pelicans, the White Pelican has an enormously long bill with a gular pouch below the bill
which the Pelican uses to store caught fish (it spills water from the pouch before swallowing its catch).
Pelicans eat up to three lbs. of fish a day, and only carry food in their pouch when delivering it to their chick.

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Pelican Landing 0229

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Pelican 0324

White Pelicans are among the heaviest flying birds in the world, weighing from 9 to 30 pounds.
Pelicans are very clumsy on land, but they are excellent swimmers and are quite graceful in the air.

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White Pelicans Mating Season 2541

This image taken at Big Bear Lake in the Southern California mountains shows
White Pelicans with the horn on the bill which they display during mating season.

White Pelicans are the only one of the eight species of Pelican to have a horn on their bill.

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Pelican Flight 0916

A White Pelican soars over Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in the early afternoon in mid-November.
Notice that the projection or horn on the bill (the nuptial tubercle) is beginning to grow.

Pelicans can be tricky to get a focus lock on in the sky because the normal way of focusing on the wing root
or head does not work since there is so little contrast. The best way is to focus on the leading edge of a wing
or on the bill. The bill is best as it will put the head in the focused plane regardless of the aperture selected.

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Pelican Flight 0268

A White Pelican in soaring flight on an overcast day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in December.

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Pelican Landing 0270

White Pelicans can be extremely challenging to shoot around mid-day
when the skies are clear due to the bright reflections off their feathers.
The reduced contrast and softer reflections of overcast days allow for
better examination of feather detail when shots are taken at mid-day.

White Pelicans are a lot easier to shoot on cloudy days too.
Further below, you’ll see a number of shots taken on a clear
day at noon... the difficulties will be immediately apparent.

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Pelicans Herding Fish 0520

A 1600 x 700 panorama crop of White Pelicans herding fish,
taken on an overcast December morning at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

White Pelicans cooperate to herd fish in shallow water, and are often seen with Double-Crested Cormorants.

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Brown Pelican

Unlike most other Pelicans, the Brown Pelican (and the similar Peruvian Pelican) feed by diving on their prey.
The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the Pelicans, and like the White Pelican it is gregarious, living in flocks.
Below are portraits and composites of Brown Pelicans in breeding and non-breeding plumage and hunting.

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Brown Pelicans 3558

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Brown Pelicans 3559

Preening is a popular activity, as can be seen in the two images above which show an
adult in Breeding plumage and three juveniles alongside the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica.

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Brown Pelican Breeding Plumage 3575 M

A Brown Pelican in Breeding plumage, preening at the edge of the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica.
Note the dark brown neck and the brilliant red of the gular pouch and edges at the tip of the bill.

After preening, there is nothing like a good stretch, which also shows the brilliant red pouch and bill edges.

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Brown Pelican 3596

A Brown Pelican Juvenile at Bolsa Chica Refuge, with the typical mottled brown plumage.

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Brown Pelican Gular Pouch 3611

The gular pouch of a juvenile Brown Pelican, backlit by the sun.
A Brown Pelican pouch can hold three gallons of fish and water.

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Brown Pelican Non-Breeding 0502 M

A Brown Pelican displaying post-Breeding Plumage in November.

In their breeding plumage, their bill and pouch are redder, the head
becomes a creamy yellow, and the iris turns bluish-white. The neck is
dark brown before breeding, but after breeding the neck turns white.

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Brown Pelican Flight X0045

A non-breeding adult Brown Pelican in flight over the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica in April.

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Brown Pelican  Flight HS9857 M

A juvenile Brown Pelican displays its wing detail as it flies past the photographer at Ballona Creek.

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Brown Pelican Hunting SXL

A 1500 x 1138 version of the SXL composite (4461 x 3384) showing a Brown Pelican hunting at
Bolsa Chica in Southern California. The flight image (top right) was taken at Sanibel Island, Florida.

Unlike most other Pelicans which herd fish from the surface and then scoop them up while swimming,
Brown Pelicans (and similar Peruvian Pelicans) spot schools of fish from above, then dive on them,
opening their bill to catch the fish in their huge pouch. They keep the fish in sight by turning over in
flight just before they hit the water, so the bird often enters the water sideways or upside down.

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Brown Pelican Dive XL

A 1029 x 1200 version of the XL composite (2464 x 2874) showing a Brown Pelican
plunging into a canal at Bolsa Chica Refuge in a hunting dive just before sunset in late May.

After they make their catch, they spill the water out and throw the fish back into their gullet.
They drain the water because the pouch holds three gallons, while their stomach holds one.

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Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise 1335-37 M

A 1500 x 1223 composite image of a Brown Pelican hunting dive at sunrise off Sanibel Island, Florida.

More images of Brown Pelicans are in the Bolsa Chica and Florida sections and the Pelicans Wildlife Study.

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White Pelican            Brown Pelican

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Pelicans_HerdingFish_1276


Pelicans Herding Fish 1276

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Pelicans Herding Fish 1279

A group of White Pelicans fly low over the surface of the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge,
dragging their feet and tails to herd fish into the shallows in a cooperative feeding technique.

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Pelicans Herding Fish 1288

White Pelicans use this cooperative technique to herd fish into a tight ball, then
they surface dive on the ball to grab as many fish as possible before they disperse.

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Pelicans Herding Fish 1289

They fly close to the water and drag their feet, run or hop, splashing the surface to scare the fish.

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Pelicans Herding Fish 1292

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Pelicans Herding Fish 1295

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Pelican Herding Fish 1317

These shots were all taken at mid-day, at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in late November.

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Galloping Pelican 1381

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Pelican Landing 1387

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Pelican Landing 1394

When the Pelicans land, they stick their feet in front of them and water-ski,
scooping air with their wings and dragging their tail in the water to slow down.

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White Pelican            Brown Pelican

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Pelican Takeoff 0134

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Pelican Takeoff 0135

A White Pelican takeoff, taken in the late morning on a clear day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
Achieving proper exposure of a White Pelican under these conditions can be quite challenging.

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Pelican Takeoff 0151

This takeoff is without a doubt among the most challenging sorts of action
sequences possible. The bird is going from areas of dark background to midtone
backgrounds and back again, and the subject is bright white in the morning sunlight.

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Pelican Takeoff 0157

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Pelican Takeoff 0158

A White Pelican hops across the surface of the pond to gain speed as it takes off in the late morning.

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Pelican Takeoff 0160

The only way to avoid overexposing the bird is to know beforehand what the proper
exposure for the bird will be, then manually select the aperture necessary to get
the look you want for the sequence and a shutter speed which will achieve
the correct exposure at that aperture. This avoids having the meter alter
the exposure as the bird occludes a darker or lighter background.

It is possible to spot-meter the bird, but if the metering reticle
hits a shadowed area or an area lighter than the one you used
to set the exposure compensation, the sequence will be ruined.
It is far better to pre-meter the subject and use the manual mode.

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Pelican Flight 0938

A White Pelican in soaring flight on a clear day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.

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Pelican Head-on 0247, 0248

Note the subtle adjustments of the primary feathers and the head and neck
movements which the White Pelican uses to compensate for the shifting wind.

You may want to right click to open this image in a new (non-expanded) window.
If you adjust the window height to fit the upper image height, you can use the Page
Down and Page Up keys on your keyboard to switch from the upper to lower image.
You will be able to see the head, neck, shoulder and feather movements more easily.

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Pelican HS6791

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Pelican HS6795

Shot late in the afternoon at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge. Notice how dark the water appears in these shots.
The water is dark because of the exposure compensation which is required to properly expose the white bird.

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White Pelicans X5483

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White Pelicans X5484

A White Pelican enters the water off the island in the middle of the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

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White Pelican Yawn X5162-5166

Pelicans and Cormorants stand on the island to socialize and evaluate
landing techniques of birds who want to join them. One bird seems bored.
With a bill this massive, you had to know that a yawn would be impressive.
In the sequence above, a White Pelican puts all of his energy into a yawn.

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White Pelican Yawn X5167

The yawning Pelican looks like a cartoon with his bill extended straight up.

White Pelicans and Double-Crested Cormorants can often be seen together.

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White Pelicans X5514

White Pelicans in the late afternoon at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

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Pelican Landing X5551

White Pelicans landing in the late afternoon in September at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

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White Pelicans Landing X5554

A group of their colleagues stand by to provide commentary on the landing technique.

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White Pelicans X5556

Pelicans generally prefer to land on water, but this fellow dropped right in on a prime piece of real estate.

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White Pelican X5373

A White Pelican poses for a late afternoon portrait at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in September.

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White Pelicans X5565

A group of White Pelicans patrolling back and forth across the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

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Pelicans Sunset Landing X5629

White Pelicans landing in formation at sunset.

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White Pelican Sunset X5634

Buzzing the tower before landing...

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White Pelican Sunset X5633

A White Pelican flies into the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge at sunset in mid-September.

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White Pelican Sunset X5608

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White Pelican Sunset X5617

A White Pelican swimming on the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in the low-angle light near sunset.

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White Pelican Sunset X5611

A White Pelican in the dappled golden light of sunset at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

Achieving an exposure which properly captures the light without overexposing the highlights
and losing feather detail or underexposing and losing color saturation can be quite challenging.

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Pelican Cormorants X7573

A White Pelican swims into the sunset with Cormorants at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.

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White Pelican at Sunset X7575

A detail crop of a White Pelican at Sunset (resized from the master image).

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White Pelican            Brown Pelican

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PelicanStudies


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Pelicans Wildlife Study section.
(Brown Pelicans and White Pelicans from California and Florida)

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Cormorants


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Hummingbirds


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Loon


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Raptors


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