{"id":9077,"date":"2013-08-02T03:45:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T09:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9077"},"modified":"2024-04-01T03:35:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T09:35:23","slug":"nine-foot-wingspans-american-white-pelicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/02\/nine-foot-wingspans-american-white-pelicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Foot Wingspans – American White Pelicans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LookLook at that wingspan – American White Pelican – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday while on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> the birds that I saw in the highest numbers were American White Pelicans. There were huge flocks of them in several areas group feeding and some were simply resting or preening. The American White Pelicans are done with rearing their young and they are now spending time fattening up for their fall migration. This one looks like it has been eating well, look at that chest.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican showing the nearly 9 foot wingspan – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

American White Pelicans have a wingspan of about 9 feet, in North America only the California Condor has a larger wingspan than these pelicans. The photo above shows the same pelican as the first image one frame later.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican White Pelican flying past\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Three frames later the pelican had turned towards the east which gave me nice light under both of its wings. I didn’t notice until I edited the file that the pelican had opened its bill slightly.<\/p>\n

There were pelicans every where yesterday at Bear River migratory Bird Refuge even though it has been so dry this year.<\/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":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126947,"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":[4004,3966,4052,4122,4154,4,706,4741,11379,11380],"class_list":["post-9077","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-flight","tag-flying","tag-pelecanus-erythrorhynchos","tag-pelican","tag-pelicans","tag-white-pelicans","tag-wingspan","tag-wingspans"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/american-white-pelican-flying-mia-mcpherson-9838.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2mp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118895,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/11\/bird-talk-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9077,"position":0},"title":"Bird 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-4670.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-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-4670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-4670.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-white-pelican-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-4670.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":9077,"position":3},"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":40040,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/16\/american-white-pelican-flight-over-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":9077,"position":4},"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 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5146,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/07\/birds-of-bear-river-mbr-american-white-pelicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9077,"position":5},"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, 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