white pelicans fishing

A Flotilla of Over 250 Hungry White Pelicans… The Everglades

/ Curt Mekemson / 26 Comments
Peggy and I were leaving the Everglades last week when we drove by a small pond that had at least 250 white pelicans working their way back and forth across the pond, herding fish, and downing them as they went.

Having lived in California and Oregon with occasional trips to Washington and the west coast of Mexico for most of my life, I have spent hours watching brown pelicans make their impressive dives into the Pacific Ocean capturing fish. White pelicans are much leas common in the West and have a very different approach to fishing. They don’t dive. Instead, they herd fish as a group, scooping them up as they go. Peggy and I had only seen this process once before. We were at Morro Bay on California’s Central Coast and watched a half dozen white pelicans form a semi-circle and herd fish toward shallower waters. Imagine our surprise when we passed by a pond that had between 200-300 swimming back and forth in unison!

As we were driving by, this is what we saw. More pelicans were off to the right and other birds could be seen in the background. Peggy was driving. She slammed on the brakes and backed up. What you can’t see were all of the mosquitoes and biting flies. Grin.
The Pelicans would cross the pond in one direction and then come back the other way. Great egrets, cattle egrets and snowy egrets were some of the birds seen in the background.
Going in the other direction.
A close up of the action.
And another.
When white pelicans capture a fish, they also get a bill full of water. They then raise their bill to let the water drain out before they swallow the fish.
Some of the other birds. I think the pink flash was a Roseate Spoonbill.
Given the black legs on this bird, I’m guessing it is a great egret.
A final photo of the magical pond.

Friday’s post will feature baboons.