Big, Bright, and Beaky

It’s hard to miss an American white pelican. Weighing up to 30 pounds — more than a miniature poodle — and with a 9-foot wingspan, a full-grown pelican is one of the biggest birds in North America. Their striking white feathers with black wingtips are easy to spot. But it’s usually a pelican’s enormous, orange, pterodactyl-like beak that people notice first. And if the beak wasn’t noticeable enough, during mating season, males and females sprout a round plate or “horn” on top of their beaks that falls off at the end of summer.

Super Scooper

A stretchy pouch of skin hangs off the bottom of a pelican’s long beak. When the hungry bird wishes for fishes, it swooshes its beak underwater like a net. Sometimes, a pelican tips completely over, leaving only its feathery white bottom sticking up. In a single scoop, a pelican can capture a fish as large as a carp. It also scoops up enough water to fill three or four gallon-sized milk jugs. Since that’s two or three times more than its stomach can hold, a pelican must drain the water before pointing its beak skyward and swallowing any fish left inside. Gulp!

Fishing with Friends

Pelicans often work together to catch fish. Teams of six or more birds paddle in a line, dipping their beaks and splashing water with their wings. Scared fish swim away from the commotion — right into a trap. Once the pelicans herd the fish into the shallows or encircle the entire school, the hungry birds dip up dinner as easily as if it were swimming in a soup bowl.

Stealing Meals

When one of the pelicans in a group catches a fish, cooperation stops, and chaos breaks out. The birds splash, push, and bump against each other, trying to steal the meal from the jaws of the lucky angler. Not only do pelicans rob from their friends, they also steal from other birds. They’ve been known to wait for a diving cormorant to surface and then swipe a hard-caught fish right out of the startled bird’s beak.

Cooling Off

A pelican’s beak isn’t just a meal-catching marvel, it’s also an air conditioner. The big birds have a tough time cooling down. (You’d have a tough time, too, if you had to wear a feather coat all summer!) Luckily, a pelican’s pouch has lots of blood vessels running through it. By fluttering the pouch — it looks a little like a dog panting — air moves over the blood vessels, carrying off heat and cooling the blood inside.

Feathered Jumbo Jets

Despite their size, pelicans are graceful flyers. They stretch out their long wings and ride rising currents of air high into the sky until they’re nearly out of sight. Pelicans often fly in flocks, forming V’s like oversized geese. Sometimes flock mates fly in a wavy, follow-the-leader fashion that looks as though they’re riding a roller coaster over a series of hills. To land, pelicans stretch out their legs and ski across the water on their huge webbed feet.

Migration Stations

American white pelicans raise their babies on islands in large lakes in Canada and several northern states. They spend winter along the coast from Texas to Florida. In the spring and fall, as they migrate between these two places, pelicans stop to rest and refuel in Missouri’s marshes and lakes. To catch a glimpse of these magnificent birds, visit one of these locations in April or October.

• Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge
• Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Mark Twain Lake
• Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area
• Riverlands Environmental Demonstration Area
• Truman Lake
• Schell-Osage Conservation Area