Seagulls Intrude Upon The Pelican Social Gathering
by Jeff Swan
Title
Seagulls Intrude Upon The Pelican Social Gathering
Artist
Jeff Swan
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used in catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the Brown and Peruvian Pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America as well as from polar regions and the open ocean. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 30 million years, to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France.
Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, gannets and boobies, pelicans are now known instead to be most closely related to the Shoebill and Hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills and herons are more distant relatives, and have been classified in the same order. Pelicans frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. Gregarious birds, they often hunt cooperatively and breed colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees.
The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishers. They have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.
Uploaded
February 8th, 2014
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Viewed 1,574 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 03/22/2024 at 2:34 PM
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Comments (27)
Kathy M Krause
Oh my gosh Jeff! It's like the pelicans all lined up for your and the gulls photo bombed the shot! Awesome! LF
William Tasker
Very cool, Jeff! Your beautiful image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World. L/F
Randy Rosenberger
It is truly an honor and a pleasure to let you know that your beautiful piece of artwork that you submitted to the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery group has been chosen to be featured and displayed on our homepage featured artists section. Thank you much for sharing and congratulations on your special place of honor. Favorited and Liked this exceptional piece of artwork. Randy B. Rosenberger ( admin. of WFS group )
Karen Adams
Wow! Wow! Wow! Love the lines of the water and then the row of pelicans..such wonderful patterns and then the chaos of the turbulent churning water and those pesky gulls! . . . .fav/v12
Jacquelyn Roberts
I can see where they would get along. Their personalities feel compatible to me. Great Image Jeff! V/F