Freely in flight

Not a real great photo of this one!

I promise it looks better in person.

The brown pelican has really made a comeback since the DDT days of the 70's.

You see the pesticide DDT was affecting the shells of their eggs.

When the birds would try and incubate them, they would break instead of protecting the baby inside.

As a result, when we moved here in 1976 pelicans were few and far between.

You would see a few here and there.

The numbers today have almost attained them nuisance status.

I love to see them in flight formation, each one using the wingbeats of the one ahead.

Our brown pelicans are the smallest and lightest of the eight different types of pelicans.

Then there is the diving.

The seemingly impossible diving they do for fish.

Did you know they always turn to the side to protect their esophagus?

They also close off their breathing, so they don't inhale large amounts of water 

as the open beak hits the surface to catch fish.

Their mandibles in their beak flex open sideways as well as up and down.

They actually can hold several gallons of water in the pouch, but they must squeeze it out before swallowing the fish.

They also bring the wings back so as not to break them while hitting the water.

They also don't breathe through their nostrils on the beak.

What we think are nostrils are actually glands to secrete oil to take care of their feathers.

Fascinating, funny, never changing pelicans.

Freely in flight, Acrylic on panel, 5 x 15 inches

Day 11 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2022