The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. This photograph shows a juvenile brown pelican gliding over the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Head, California.

After hatching, the pelican chicks are fed on regurgitated predigested fish and take about two months to fledge. When they leave the nest, they are at first unable to fly and take wing several weeks later. When the parents cease to feed them, some six months later, each will have consumed around 70 kg (150 lb) of fish. The juvenile brown pelican does not acquire adult plumage until three years of age, when the feathers on the neck become paler, the upperparts striped, the wing feathers grayer, and the belly acquires dark spots.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, the smallest of the eight recognized pelican species. It is found on the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to northern Chile, including the Galapagos Islands. There are five recognized subspecies; the nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon to brown. The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats amphibians, crustaceans, and the eggs and nestlings of birds. It nests in colonies in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and mangroves. It is recognized as the national bird of Saint Martin, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the official state bird of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This brown pelican in flight was photographed at Bodega Bay, California.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg