NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



NORTH CAROLINA 



Pelican 



By Lisa Kowite • Photos by Walker Golde 



/er wonder why pelicans have those huge pouches on their throats? 

 Do these birds like to hang on to a couple of fish for an afternoon snack? 



Actually, any fish unlucky enough to end up in that pouch doesn't stay there 

 for long, according to David Lee, curator of birds for the North Carolina Museum 

 of Natural Sciences. 



As the powerful Pelicanus occidentalis, the brown pelican, takes flight after 

 its watery dive, the fish already has been swallowed. 



Lee compares the feeding process of a pelican to that of a baleen whale. 

 Both allow a large amount of water — and food — into their mouths. Just as the 

 whale uses its baleen to retain food and filter out unneeded water, the pelican uses 

 its pouch. 



The pelican's flexible lower mandible is pushed back as the bird hits the 

 water's surface. Cartilaginous strips in the pouch expand to hold approximately 

 three pounds of water. Once the pouch is full, it automatically retracts to force 

 water out — leaving behind a tasty lunch. 



But for these birds, even the simple act of diving is amazing. Dive-bombing 

 the water from heights of up to 30 feet, pelicans hit the water's surface with 

 tremendous force. They hit so hard, in fact, that they come equipped with an 

 additional layer of tissue. 



"Right underneath their skin is this stuff that looks like bubble wrap," Lee 

 says. This lightweight layer both protects their fragile bodies from the force of 

 impact and increases buoyancy to prevent diving too deeply. The birds, he says, 

 "are all feathers and air pockets." 



A Mysterious Migration 



Look around North Carolina's coast these days, and you'll have no trouble 

 finding a brown pelican. It's surprising, considering that up until the 1970s only 

 one small flock was known to nest in the state. In fact, until 1986 brown pelicans 

 along the East Coast were considered endangered. 



DDT, used extensively during the mid- 1900s, was originally known as a 

 miraculous pesticide. Today, it is known for its disastrous environmental effects. 

 Pelicans were just one of many wildlife species to suffer at the hands of DDT. 

 They experienced eggshell thinning, which resulted in poor reproduction rates. 

 The national population plummeted so low that entire colonies were devastated. 

 DDT was banned in 1972, but not before nationwide damage had been done. 

 Pelicans were placed on the endangered species list. 



Continued 



Pelicans are among the many nongame species protected by the regulatory 

 authority of the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission's Nongame and 

 Endangered Wildlife Program. 



26 SPRING 2002 



