Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Snow Bird

Yes, we have lots of pelicans in Florida, but not like this, or at least not all of the time. Most of the year, Florida is populated by brown pelicans, but during the cold months, we get large flocks of these white pelicans down from up north. They seem to prefer the fresh water, but you will occasionally find them in salt water. Brown pelicans are the opposite, they like the salt, but sometimes you'll see some inland where the water is fresh. They're just all mixed up somehow. As you can see, the white ones aren't entirely white, they've got some black accents under the wings that gives them a distinctive look when they're flying. And that bump on the beak is some sort of sex thing. The males get it during breeding season, and then it goes away. Perhaps the females find it attractive.

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