How Brown Pelicans Dive After Fish Without Breaking Their Necks
The hefty coastal birds engulf fish as they plunge into the water from 60 feet up鈥攁ll while avoiding injury.
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Transcript:
This is BirdNote!
Imagine a line of Brown Pelicans flying just above the breaking surf of the coast.
Perhaps you鈥檝e watched, and heard, these large, long-billed birds fishing. They circle high, then dive headfirst, plunging under water to catch fish.
But doesn鈥檛 that hurt? Anyone who has taken a belly flop off a diving board knows the powerful force of hitting the water.
Several adaptations protect Brown Pelicans as they dive, sometimes from as high as 60 feet. Air sacs beneath the skin on their breasts act like cushions. Also, while diving, a pelican rotates its body ever so slightly to the left. This rotation helps avoid injury to the esophagus and trachea, which are located on the right side of the bird鈥檚 neck.
Pelicans have also learned that a steep dive angle, between 60 and 90 degrees, reduces aiming errors caused by water surface refraction. We know that pelicans 鈥渓earn鈥 this behavior because adults are better marksmen than young birds.
Upon impact, the Brown Pelican opens its bill and expands its pouch, trapping small fish inside. Then the bird pops to the surface, spills out the water, and gulps down dinner.
To see a video of pelicans diving, begin at our website, BirdNote.org. I鈥檓 Mary McCann.
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Credits:
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by W.W.H. Gunn.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
Written by Frances Wood
Narrator: Mary McCann
漏 2015 Tune In to Nature.org March 2018