{"id":726,"date":"2010-09-05T18:07:51","date_gmt":"2010-09-06T00:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=726"},"modified":"2025-09-27T11:25:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:25:47","slug":"american-white-pelican-preening-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/09\/05\/american-white-pelican-preening-session\/","title":{"rendered":"American White Pelican Preening Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in northern Utah, part of the National Wildlife Refuge system, has been closed since the first of June and reopened this week.<\/p>\n

I made the trip up there this morning, not expecting to see much because reports were that there were few birds and I expected the birds to be nervous after not being exposed to many people or vehicular traffic for three months.<\/p>\n

Birds were scarce, the water level in the ponds was low so there were only a few shorebirds. On the way out of the refuge though I stopped to photograph some American White Pelicans and a few Double-crested Cormorants.<\/p>\n

One of the pelicans was preening and put on quite a show.<\/p>\n

I found this behavior and action very interesting. Ideally I would have preferred to have the pelican isolated from the rest of the birds on the shoreline yet I am still glad I saw and documented this behavior.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican rubbing its head on its back –\u00a0D200, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pelican was rubbing its head and neck across its back. For some reason this pose reminds me of Sandhill Cranes when they are displaying.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican and Double-crested Cormorant scratching –\u00a0D200, f13, 1\/640, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

An American White Pelican and Double-crested Cormorant were very close together on the shoreline, the cormorant seemed to take a cue from the pelican and began scratching not long after the pelican. Maybe it is like the effect where one person yawns and soon other people surrounding them begin to yawn too, I am not sure.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican cleaning bill – D200, f13, 1\/640, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pelican began to shakes its pouch vigorously up and down, according to BNA<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(a pay site<\/em>)\u00a0this behavior is probably to rid the pouch or bill of debris. It sure seemed to me like this pelican was trying to very hard to do just that!<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican cleaning bill – D200,\u00a0 f13, 1\/640, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Here the pouch of the pelican is being pushed towards the upper mandible and appears to be inside out.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican with bill open wide –\u00a0 D200,\u00a0 f13, 1\/640, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not sure the pelican can open its bill much wider than this photo shows. It makes my jaw ache to even think about opening my jaw that wide.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican scratching its neck –\u00a0 D200,\u00a0 f13, 1\/500, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pelican stretches its neck to be able to preen the neck feathers with the bill.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican opening its bill –\u00a0D200,\u00a0 f13, 1\/640, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican saying Ah! –\u00a0D200,\u00a0 f11, 1\/750, ISO 400, EV -0.3, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just before leaving these birds the pelican threw back its head and opened its bill wide, perhaps it was attempting to catch a flying fish? Just kidding!<\/p>\n

The American White Pelican is unmistakable with its huge wing span, black and white coloring and its distinctively large bill. These pelicans forage in flocks using their wings & bills to drive fish into shallow water. They are highly social and are often seen in large groups.\u00a0 They live primarily in the western part of North America but do winter further south, even as far south and east as Florida.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled to get these behavior images today. I hope to see more of the American White Pelicans before they leave for the winter.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/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":"

Birds were scarce, the water level in the ponds was low so there were only a few shorebirds. On the way out of the refuge though we stopped to photograph some American White Pelicans and a few Double-crested Cormorants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158126,"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":[3,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,3966,5552,10838,6306,4154,4,706,4019,5674,11381,4541,3964,4741],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-white-pelicans","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-white-pelican","tag-bill","tag-cleaning","tag-head","tag-pelecanus-erythrorhynchos","tag-pelican","tag-pelicans","tag-preening-2","tag-preening-session","tag-rubbing","tag-scratching","tag-stretching","tag-white-pelicans"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-white-pelican-cormorant-double-scratch-mia-mcpherson-7917.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9077,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/02\/nine-foot-wingspans-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":0},"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, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9741.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-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9741.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9741.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9741.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":726,"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":117537,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/27\/fall-american-white-pelican-images-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":4},"title":"Fall American White Pelican Images At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On this fall morning, I'm sharing three American White Pelican images from Bear River MBR taken earlier this week and a bonus flock photo from last year.","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 the fall, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-white-pelican-in-fall-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-white-pelican-in-fall-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-white-pelican-in-fall-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-white-pelican-in-fall-mia-mcpherson-5403.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":726,"position":5},"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, 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