American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
One of the world’s largest birds, the American White Pelican has a wing span of up to 9 feet. They breed from Canada to the northern United States and winter along the Gulf Coast and as far south as Panama. Their physical characteristics are all white feathers with black wing tips and a yellow to orange bill. They appear very clumsy on land but are very graceful in flight and usually travel and feed in flocks.
Unlike the Brown Pelican, the White does not dive for food but just submerge their heads to scoop up fish in their large pouched bills. Before swallowing the fish, they first drain out the water by holding their bills vertically.
Before leaving the warm waters of the south, breeding adults develop a nuptial tubercle or horny knob on their bills. It’s believed the knobs serve a twofold purpose. They may signal members of the opposite sex that they are in the market for a mate, and they also serve as a target for other adults when they arrive at their northern breeding grounds and fight for territories. Fighting adults aim for these knobs and not the tender gular pouches that could cause fatal injury. Once eggs are laid, the knobs fall off. Photographed in Citrus County, Florida.