Nature offers countless displays of feeding ingenuity, but few combine elegance, speed, and adaptability as beautifully as the brown pelican. This past week, along coastal shores, pelicans were seen feeding close to land, circling over the surf before locking their wings, folding them back in a graceful arc, and diving straight into the water. It is a stunning spectacle to watch.
The High-Speed Plunge
Plunge-diving brown pelicans often dive from heights of up to 65 feet above the water. In those moments, they fold their wings, pull their legs and neck in, and twist their bodies to the left—a clever adaptation that protects key structures like the trachea and esophagus from the forceful impact. At full tilt, they strike the surface at speeds reaching as much as 40 miles per hour.
Mouth Open and Ready to Scoop
Yes—they plunge in with their bill open. As they hit the water, their gular pouch balloons, capturing not just fish, but a considerable amount of water too—up to 2.5 gallons. Once they resurface, pelicans tilt back their head, draining the water from the edges of their bill, and swallow their prize whole.
Hunts: Hits and Misses
They’re skilled, but not flawless. While many dives result in successful catches, misses do happen—pelicans sometimes fail to grab a fish, especially when prey dart away at the last moment. Observers often note the mix of splashy dives and empty bills, though even a miss is mesmerizing to watch.
Built to Withstand the Impact
The brown pelican’s anatomy is purpose-built for these high-velocity dives. Under the skin, air sacs cushion the impact, acting like feathered shock absorbers that protect internal structures and help the bird bob back to the surface. Additionally, reinforced neck vertebrae, strong neck muscles, and specialized tendons stabilize the head and beak, preventing injury even as they hit water at speed.
Favorites on the Menu
These pelicans are piscivores with discerning tastes. Menhaden, anchovies, mullet, herring, sardines, and other small schooling fish dominate their diet. In some regions, certain fish species, like Pacific sardines, make up a significant portion of their meals. While fish is their main prey, they occasionally eat crustaceans, amphibians, or even bird eggs or chicks if opportunities arise.
Why It’s a Spectacle Worth Watching
- Elegance in motion: The pelican’s smooth glide, sudden dive, and splashy entry are mesmerizing.
- Speed meets strategy: Diving at 40 mph with pinpoint aim takes both precision and physical resilience.
- Adapted for extremes: Air sacs, skeletal reinforcements, and shock-absorbing anatomy highlight the power of evolution.
Fun Tidbits & Lesser-Known Trivia
- A pelican’s throat pouch can hold up to three times more than its stomach—about three gallons of water.
- Brown pelicans and baleen whales share similar feeding mechanics, both using large expandable pouches for engulfing prey.
- Their jaw structure is sturdier than that of white pelicans, likely due to the demands of high-speed diving and gulping underwater.
- Their digestive system is highly efficient: with no teeth, swallowed fish first go to a stomach that secretes acid to soften scales and bones, followed by a muscular gizzard that grinds them up. Tiny rocks in the gizzard sometimes help aid this process.
Wrapping Up
The brown pelican is a marvel of nature—a creature that combines grace, power, and precision in every plunge. Watching them dive close to shore, wings locked, body descending like a living torpedo before bursting into the waves, is a reminder of how evolution sculpts beauty into survival. They don’t always make the catch, and the water isn’t always forgiving, but their built-in defenses and astonishing adaptations make each feeding dive both safe and spectacular.
Next time you see them skim the surface or circle just offshore, remember: you’re witnessing one of the ocean’s most refined hunters in action.
