An early start we had today, as we circumnavigated Roca Redonda along with shearwaters, noddy terns, petrels, boobies and gulls, but of course our unmistakable bottlenose dolphins also showed up. As the day went on, we sailed towards Fernandina. As they did last week, hundreds of common dolphins again delighted us with their presence. The afternoon was a whole different landscape. Fernandina is the youngest of the Galapagos Islands, about 300,000 years old. The island holds populations of many seabirds, the most important ones being the flightless cormorants and the Galapagos penguin. But I thought of today giving a bit of attention to the beautiful brown pelicans.
Pelicans are among the largest living seabirds. They are about 4 to 6 ft. tall with a wingspan of 6.5-9 ft. and weigh from 8-17 lbs. They are the largest of the Pelecaniformes, an order of seabird that includes the tropicbirds, cormorants, anhingas, frigatebirds, gannets and boobies. They have enormous gular sacs, which can hold more than their stomachs, by maybe two to three times. The pelican might scoop up about 3 gallons of water with the fish they catch! The pouch, besides acting as a dip net, serves them in hot weather; when roosting in the sun, they will open their bill and pulsate the pouch for cooling.
Pelicans are highly social and gregarious; they live in flocks with immature and adult birds of both sexes together through much of the year. These birds have great buoyancy and are always seen floating on the water. Their system of internal air sacs is extraordinarily developed, not only in their bones but also just under the skin. They are strong swimmers and to be able to take off from the water they must run over the water, beating their big wings and pounding the surface with both feet in unison.
They eat almost nothing but fish, caught by plunge diving. They sometimes submerge completely with a great splash, or only partly (the method used in the Galapagos), depending on the height of the dive. Because of their size they require much food; the daily amount for an adult is about 4 lbs.
In the Galapagos we find a subspecies of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis urinator). The species is found along the coasts of tropical North and South America, but this subspecies nest exclusively in the Galapagos. They nest in small colonies on all islands. It breeds throughout the year, with individuals breeding every nine months.
The beautiful bird on this photo happens to be in breeding plumage. In non-breeding plumage they are just brown, hence their name. Since breeding has started on this island, I thought of showing you how attractive this bird could be.
