PELICAN PARTY in Belize

TRENT'S WALK IN THE BELIZEAN JUNGLE (Part Four)

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PELICAN SIGHTINGS
Check this out.  These birds are found all over Belize, especially in and around the waterfront dock areas.

The boats are in and the pelicans are here.  This happens every time a boat full of fisherman comes in, with their catch for the day.  As the fisherman unload the fish, a small group of pelicans starts to emerge.  As the fisherman start to clean their fish, they toss the fish guts and scrapes, into the water and the pelicans go crazy.   Each bird hoping to get one morsel of raw fish all to himself. 

The brown pelican is a large bird with a big bill (which may account for the fact), that once in flight it is quite graceful, but it tends to crash on the water when landing.   Takeoff is even more hilarious, as you watch (you will see) a great flapping of their wings, and the splat of webbed feet trying to gain momentum, as they try to get a lift - with the next trade wind that rolls by.   

An adult (3-5 years) female brown pelican weights 2-5 kg; the male is even heavier and its wingspan longer.  Generally they are silvery or brown on the top, with a darker undercarriage, with either a black or white neck (as you see in this picture). 

They have a gular pouch that is situated beneath their bill.  At rest, the brown pelican pants rapidly through its slightly-open beak; this causes the pouch to flutter, which in turns blows air over the blood vessels of its thin skin and acts as a cooling technique.

In tropical areas (such as Belize), their nesting season may be ongoing all year long.  Incubation takes about 30 days and caring for the chicks is a duty shared by both mother and father.  In order to eat, the young birds poke their beaks down their parents throats, causing the parent to regurgitate their semi-digested fish.

Hope you are enjoying my walk in the jungle series...............there is still lots more to come.

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