{"id":16017,"date":"2014-09-30T05:29:13","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T11:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16017"},"modified":"2025-09-28T06:42:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:42:37","slug":"american-white-pelican-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/30\/american-white-pelican-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"American White Pelican Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PortraitPortrait of an American White Pelican – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn’t all that often that I am able to obtain portraits of wild birds so when I had an opportunity\u00a0last month to take these American White Pelican portraits I jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

This pelican and another were foraging near a road on the auto tour of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when this one came closer to the road than I thought it would.<\/p>\n

I like portraits because they show details in the face that aren’t as easily seen as compared to a full body shot. In this frame I also caught one of the tiny fish in mid air that\u00a0the pelican caught about 1\/3 of the way from the tip of the bill.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican portrait\u00a0– Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I like this frame because of the water droplets. I took several other portraits of this pelican that morning along with some full body images too.<\/p>\n

I always feel honored when wild birds feel comfortable enough in my presence to come closer than I expect. It happened more frequently in Florida because the birds were more used to human presence than they are here in Utah.<\/p>\n

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

Even when it is cloudy and there isn’t enough light to go shooting.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

It isn’t all that often that I am able to obtain portraits of wild birds so when I had an opportunity last month to take portraits of this American White Pelican I jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158226,"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":[3,124,1148,26],"tags":[4004,3966,4142,4136,4154,4,706,4046,2315,4741],"class_list":["post-16017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-white-pelicans","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-white-pelican","tag-close-up","tag-foraging","tag-pelecanus-erythrorhynchos","tag-pelican","tag-pelicans","tag-portrait","tag-summer-3","tag-white-pelicans"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-portratit-mia-mcpherson-1210.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4al","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57292,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/16\/american-white-pelican-foraging-by-itself\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":0},"title":"American White Pelican Foraging By Itself","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On my visit to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I didn't see large numbers of American White Pelicans but at this time of the year that is understandable because many of them are probably nesting on Gunnison Island right now.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American White Pelican in a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7892.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7892.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7892.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28436,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/20\/a-fishing-american-white-pelican-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":1},"title":"Fishing American White Pelican at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This American White Pelican image was taken in July near the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and I like how it shows the pelican fishing for food.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fishing American White Pelican, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7119.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7119.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7119.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7119.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8420,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/24\/big-beautiful-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":2},"title":"Big, Beautiful American White Pelicans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge there were two American White Pelicans that were close enough to photograph as they floated on the Bear River, it was a cloudless morning so the river was a gorgeous blue which always sets off the whites of these big, beautiful birds.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American White Pelican afloat on the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-8745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-8745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-8745.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-white-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-8745.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5146,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/07\/birds-of-bear-river-mbr-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":3},"title":"Birds of Bear River MBR – American White Pelicans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is an excellent location for finding and photographing American White Pelicans who have wing spans of over nine feet.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nonbreeding plumage American White Pelican in flight over Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-6197.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-6197.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-6197.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-6197.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9077,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/02\/nine-foot-wingspans-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":4},"title":"Nine Foot Wingspans – American White Pelicans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge the birds that I saw in the highest numbers were American White Pelicans.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American White Pelican showing the nearly 9 foot wingspan, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-white-pelican-flying-mia-mcpherson-9838.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-white-pelican-flying-mia-mcpherson-9838.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-white-pelican-flying-mia-mcpherson-9838.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-white-pelican-flying-mia-mcpherson-9838.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40040,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/16\/american-white-pelican-flight-over-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":16017,"position":5},"title":"American White Pelican Flight Over Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite things is to see is squadrons of American White Pelicans wheeling in the sky high overhead circling until they are out of sight.","rel":"","context":"In "American White Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"American White Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/white-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American White Pelican flight over Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-7149.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-7149.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-7149.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/american-white-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-7149.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}