Brown Pelicans

Adult Brown Pelican in flight

By Mia McPherson, on April 9th, 2012%

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) were common year round along the Gulf coast when I lived in Florida. I would see them floating in the water, resting on sandbars and beaches, diving for prey and in flight.

Adult Brown Pelican in flight - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

This adult Brown Pelican is in breeding plumage as indicated by the orange tipped bill, what you can not see because of the wing and neck position is the dark plumage along the backside of the neck. I photographed this bird on the west coast of Florida as it flew past me over the Gulf of Mexico.

Mia

More Brown Pelican images

Brown Pelican juvenile Wallpaper

By Mia McPherson, on January 14th, 2012%

Brown Pelican juvenile

Brown Pelican juvenile ~ Fort De Soto County Park, Florida

I used to have this image of a Brown Pelican juvenile resting on a rock at the Gulf Pier of Fort De Soto County Park as my desktop wallpaper and I thought I would share it with my viewers.

Fort De Soto County Park is at the top of my favorite locations to photograph birds and Brown Pelicans are year round residents that delight anyone who visits the park. Whether floating on the water, skimming just the waves or plunging head first after fish Brown Pelicans are entertaining and great fun to photograph.

Download my Brown Pelican juvenile wallpaper for your screen resolution by clicking the links below:

1920 x 1200
1680 x 1050
1440 x 900
1280 x 1024
1280 x 800
1024 x 768

A new page will open with the image, save to your computer and once you open the file you can set the image as your Desktop Background.

Please be sure to let me know if you enjoy this wallpaper by leaving a comment!

Mia

More Brown Pelican images

Friday Photos – Getting the Whole Picture

By Mia McPherson, on August 26th, 2011%

Mixed flock of Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmers, Gulls and Terns

Mixed flock of Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmers, Gulls and Terns
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 80mm, natural light

As a bird photographer most of the time I work hard to get close up, frame filling images of the birds I am photographing because I want to be able to see fine details in the plumage and the setting the birds are in plus some light in the bird’s eyes yet I often forget that by backing up my zoom, swapping my long lens for a wide angle lens or backing up physically I can get the “whole picture“.

The day that I created the photograph above there were huge schools of bait fish running just off the coast that caused a feeding frenzy among the gulls, terns, skimmers and pelicans that were there. The feeding frenzy was an amazing sight to see as pelicans dove head first into the water to scoop fish up in their large pouches while gulls tried to snatch the fish as the pelicans surfaced and expelled water from their bills. The terns and gulls also made repeated dives into the water into the schools of fish.

I did take some frame filling images of individual birds that I was very happy with but the thought occured to me that I could not quite capture the whole picture of the “flocking” activity of the birds without zooming back with the lens I had attached or by swapping my Nikkor 80-400mm VR lens for the 18-200mm VR that I always carry in my backpack. I don’t care to swap out my lenses in dusty, wet or sandy conditions so I zoomed back to 80mm on the lens I already had attached to capture this mixed flock in flight.

I’m glad I remembered the “whole picture” because I quite like the final results of the photos where I zoomed back that I took that daymorning. While they were not frame filling images of individual birds they do show the behavior of the flock quite well.

I just need to remind myself to think about the whole picture.

Mia

By Mia McPherson, on February 19th, 2011%

Close up of a juvenile Brown Pelican

Close up of a juvenile Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f8, 1/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light

I’ve posted about American White Pelicans before so I thought I would give their “cousins”, the Brown Pelicans some coverage too. Although white and brown pelicans are similar in shape there are notable differences between the two species. Brown Pelicans are more slender than white pelicans and they are also smaller in weight, length and wingspan. Both are long-lived species, the oldest known brown pelican lived to be 43 years old according to BNA (a pay site). The color differences between white and brown pelicans are obvious.

The juvenile brown pelican above was resting on some rocks with other pelicans nearby. I think the feather patterns on the back and wings are very interesting

Brown Pelicans flying in formation

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) flying in formation
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm at 310mm, natural light

Flocks of brown pelicans often fly in lines or v-formations, at times they appear to be barely skimming over the surface of the water then rising up in what looks like an undulating wave then they glide back down again. When they are flying low over the water I have wondered if they ever crash into a wave but I have never seen that happen.

Brown Pelicans feed by diving head first into the water to trap fish in the pouches of their bills. I once witnessed a brown pelican dive that came back up with a small shark in it’s bill and it swallowed the shark whole! It was pretty amazing to watch but too far away to get any decent shots other than documentary images.

Brown Pelicans at the start of a dive

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) at the start of a dive
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 175mm, natural light

Usually prior to a dive the pelicans fly up then they twist their bodies & wings before they plunge towards the water. Gulls often circle around them hoping that some fish will spill out the pouch and they would be able to get a free meal without as much work. The gulls in the image above are laughing gulls.

Brown Pelicans nearing the bottom of a dive

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) nearing the bottom of a dive
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, Iso 200, Nikkor 80-400MM VR at 400mm, natural light

These spectacular dives happen extremely fast, for the image above I should have increased my ISO to gain more shutter speed because 1/1000 was almost not fast enough! The juvenile on the far left and the three adults plunged head first into the waters of the Gulf. This photo was taken in January and although the water wasn’t as warm as it is in summer I know I had been in it to photograph other birds on that day. Crazy bird photographer that I am.

Feeding Brown Pelicans

Feeding Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, ISO 200, Nikoor 80-400mm VR at 175mm, natural light

The pelicans plunge into the water first with their bills and heads. At times most of the whole body of the bird will go under the surface of the water but just as often I have noticed that parts of the pelicans do not submerge. Good thing humans don’t feed like this or we would all be walking around with killer headaches!

Head First!

Head First!
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light

The image above was taken just after the bill cut into the water but before the head submerged, when I viewed this file full sized it appears that at this point the pelican’s nictitating membrane closes over the eye to protect it.

Juvenile Brown Pelican floating by

Juvenile Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) floating by
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Juvenile Brown Pelicans are primarily brown, including the head and neck, the belly is a lighter creamy color. Their eyes are dark and only a little yellow shows on the bill at the age of the pelican above. The wing and back feathers have a diamond-like pattern to them

Brown Pelican adult about to lift off

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) adult about to lift off
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Adults have lighter back and wing feathers with an almost striped appearance on the chest and belly, the bird above is nearly in full breeding plumage. There are two subspecies in North America, the Atlantic and Pacific. The bird above is from the Atlantic subspecies. An adult in breeding plumage Pacific subspecies would show more red on the bill and the pouch.

Brown Pelican splashing down into a tidal lagoon

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) splashing down into a tidal lagoon
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Brown Pelicans are fascinating, unmistakable birds to observe and photograph along the coasts of North America. I do know this; I wouldn’t want to be a fish under the brown pelican above!

Mia

More Brown Pelican images

Small in the frame

By Mia McPherson, on August 19th, 2010%

Though I quite often photograph birds so that they are what is labled “frame filling” I also like to compose images that show the bird or animals small in the frame.

Palm Warbler perched on Sea Purslane
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, F6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light.

For me this image above is as much about the Sea Purslane and the OOF Sea Oats on the sand dune in the background as it is about the as it is about the Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum). I wanted to show the scale of the bird and purslane, the warbler is tiny and the individual leaves of the purslane are too.

Oystercatcher juvenile in the surf
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, HH, f5.6, 1/160, ISO 320, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light.

I do have other reasons for taking images where the birds are small in the frame. I don’t approach, harrass or disturb nesting birds or chicks. I will remain at a distance from the nest or chicks even knowing that I’ll take a heavier crop than normal and while I am framing the shot I will look for a setting or background that will work with a bird smaller in the frame.

The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) chick in the image above isn’t frame filling but I feel the wave about to crash in the background and the bits and pieces of shells and the bird’s pose provide enough interest. Also since the chick is small having it smaller in the frame can accentuate that.

Laughing Gull in a quiet lagoon
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, HH, f5.6, 1/1600, ISO 400, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light.

I didn’t feel that the Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) in the photo above was all that interesting from the distance I was away from the bird but as I positioned myself lower and lower in the lagoon while looking through the viewfinder I found the still water, dark reflections and the contrast of the lighter colored gull very interesting, so I took a few shots. I know the image above isn’t likely to appeal to a large audience of viewers, but it does have appeal for me.

Feeding Brown Pelicans over the Gulf of Mexico
Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida
D200, HH, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 175mm, natural light.

Another reason that I might compose an image with birds small in the frame is that I may want to include several birds or animals in an image and include enough background to give the viewer a sense of place.

The Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in this image are actively hunting over and diving into the Gulf of Mexico, the gulls seen in the image are hoping to get the baitfish that the pelicans might lose. I wanted to convey the differences of the sizes of the gulls and pelicans as well as include the clouds in the early morning sky.

These are just a few examples of why I might compose images with birds or animals that are small in the frame.

Mia