American White Pelican Taking-Off
And that’s why birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love
By Cole Porter
The American White Pelican’s “horn” is a fibrous, epidermal plate, found on the upper mandible. The exact function of this structure is not known, but probably it is used in courtship or in territorial conflicts. The White Pelican is the only pelican specie to have a “horn”. The “horn” appears in the early spring and is lost after breeding. Both sexes have the “horns,” which are quite variable in size. Males tend to have larger “horns” than females, at least compared to the female with whom he mates. The plumage of the two sexes is similar. Males tend to be slightly larger than females, but identifying pelican sex by size is unreliable.
A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I’ll be darned if I know how the hellican?
By Dixon Lanier Merritt
Definitely an eye-catching … title!
I’m glad you think so. I angished over this post’s title. I almost went the other way and entitled it, “Fibrous Plate on the Upper Mandible”
Yeahhhh, right! Tell me another good one! 😉
You probably know that pelicans visit Round Island on their spring journey northward.
Don’t let any of them with fibrous plates on their upper mandible hit on you
I hadn’t seen the pelicans at Round Island until the last year or so. I was sitting on the beach with Bubs. “Those seagulls are flying in formation like pelicans.” Pulled out the binoculars, and they WERE pelicans! They must have been late flying North that year. –Pooh