Brown Pelicans are a common sight along Florida coasts and are often seen perched on stubs of trees, dock supports, and utility poles near water. They are large birds -- each with a beak that can be more than a foot long, the lower jaw of which is supported by flexible bones with a very thin, but tough and flexible skin that stretches between them. When a Brown Pelican dives into the water, water pressure on the opened lower bill stretches the skin essentially into a scoop net. Water and creatures in it are sucked in by the pressure of the pelican’s dive – and -- as the bill closes -- the water escapes and whatever creatures are left are swallowed.
The Brown Pelican’s large size requires a large perch – and its catch can include multiple fish, including some large ones. Meals may be infrequent and digestion is a long, slow process – hence the long periods of time that a pelican can be seen perched at a favored open site near its food source.
Young Brown Pelicans can often be seen inland at large open lakes such as those at Eagle Lakes Park in Naples. There, two or more young Brown Pelicans can often be seen “practice fishing” together – repeatedly diving into the calm open water side-by- side. They also do this practice-fishing with their parents, improving their skills at “fishing” without competing with the older, more-experienced birds in the choppy waters of the nearby coast. Unfortunately, pollutants flow into coastal areas near cities, contaminating pelican prey, and boat traffic and other human activity along the shore often disturb the Brown Pelican’s feeding activities.