{"id":14546,"date":"2014-03-11T05:55:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T11:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14546"},"modified":"2024-08-13T05:55:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T10:55:08","slug":"juvenile-brown-pelican-gliding-over-the-gulf-of-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/11\/juvenile-brown-pelican-gliding-over-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Brown Pelican gliding over the Gulf of Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Brown Pelican gliding over the Gulf of Mexico – Nikon D200, handheld, f10, 1\/320, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In Florida it was not uncommon for me to see Brown Pelicans gliding just barely above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico like the juvenile shown in my image. At times I would see a small flock\u00a0of Brown Pelicans gliding and at other times it might be just a single bird. Gliding just above the waters surface saves energy because of reduced drag due to ground effect. I’ve seen Brown Pelicans so close to the waters surface while gliding that their\u00a0primaries just barely touch the water but typically they are a few inches over the surface.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Brown Pelican photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Florida it was not uncommon for me to see Brown Pelicans gliding just barely above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico like the juvenile shown in my image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,143,25,704,2000],"tags":[3994,5229,5132,4052,4122,1991,2481,4077,4067,4071,4158,4,706,2315,3996,4193],"class_list":["post-14546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brown-pelicans","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-brown-pelican","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gliding","tag-ground-effect","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-pelecanus-occidentalis","tag-pelican","tag-pelicans","tag-summer-3","tag-water","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/brown-pelican-juvenile-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9129.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3MC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1934,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/02\/19\/brown-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":14546,"position":0},"title":"Brown Pelicans – Feeding Behaviors and Identification","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Brown Pelicans feed by diving head first into the water to trap fish in the pouches of their bills.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown Pelicans about to splash down, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/brown-pelicans-bottom-dive-mia-mcpherson-3711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/brown-pelicans-bottom-dive-mia-mcpherson-3711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-juvenile-vertical-pano-mia-mcpherson-8811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9927,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/21\/juvenile-brown-pelican-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":14546,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Brown Pelican In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"After posting an image of a American White Pelican lifting off two days ago I thought I should post an photo of a Brown Pelican today for comparison.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Brown Pelican in flight, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-juvenile-flying-mia-mcpherson-2853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-juvenile-flying-mia-mcpherson-2853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-juvenile-flying-mia-mcpherson-2853.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-juvenile-flying-mia-mcpherson-2853.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42181,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/24\/juvenile-brown-pelican-portrait-on-the-shore-of-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":14546,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Brown Pelican Portrait on the Shore of the Gulf","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It was wonderful to be close to the juvenile Brown Pelican and to be able to take portraits of it plus I also enjoyed being able to see all the fine details of its plumage, the texture of its bill and look into its dark eyes.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Portrait of a juvenile Brown Pelican, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/brown-pelican-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8794.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/brown-pelican-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8794.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18102,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/22\/preening-juvenile-brown-pelican-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":14546,"position":5},"title":"Preening juvenile Brown Pelican in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 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