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South African Wildlife Pictures - Pelican - The pelican is a large water bird with a distinctive pouch under the beak. Pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They swim well with their short, strong legs and their feet with all four toes webbed. The wings are long and have the unusually large number of 30 to 35 secondary flight feathers. They are known to fly up to 150 km to feeding areas.
The diet of a Pelican usually consists of fish, but they also eat amphibians, crustaceans and on some occasions, smaller birds.
They often catch fish by expanding the throat pouch. Then they must drain the pouch above the surface before they can swallow. This operation takes up to a minute, during which time other seabirds are likely to steal the fish.
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