WEBVTT - How Do Pelicans Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Florin

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<v Speaker 1>vogel bomb here. The pelican is the squat peculiar looking

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<v Speaker 1>bird you might see sitting on a dock or on

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<v Speaker 1>the beach among the sandpipers and seagulls, the one with

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<v Speaker 1>the incredibly long bill and huge wingspan. But the most

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<v Speaker 1>distinctive feature of this shore bird is what's called its

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<v Speaker 1>gooler pouch, which is the loose bag of skin that

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<v Speaker 1>descends off the lower side of its bill, and when

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<v Speaker 1>the pouch is full, can stretch all the way down

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<v Speaker 1>to the bottom of its long neck. This pouch allows

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<v Speaker 1>the pelican to engage in a strange form of filter feeding.

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<v Speaker 1>The bird can fly low over the water, open and

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<v Speaker 1>speak wide, and dip down to scoop up a fish

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<v Speaker 1>the way you might catch a guppy in a cup

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<v Speaker 1>with a lot of water along with it. A while

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<v Speaker 1>making a landing. The googler pouch then lets the water

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<v Speaker 1>drain out. The pelican can tip back its head and

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<v Speaker 1>swallow just the fish. There are either seven or eight

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<v Speaker 1>species of pelican, depending on which researchers you ask. There's

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<v Speaker 1>some argument about subspecies, but all pelicans have a similar

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<v Speaker 1>awkward appearance. No shade intended. That's a science fact, though

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<v Speaker 1>They do vary in their size, color, territory, and behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>Some species nest in trees, while others build homes for

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<v Speaker 1>themselves on the ground or in rocks. Pelicans can weighs

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<v Speaker 1>little as six pounds a bit less than three kilos,

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<v Speaker 1>and as much as thirty pounds about thirteen and a

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<v Speaker 1>half kilos, and they live on every continent except Antarctica.

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<v Speaker 1>Among the pelicans, the winner for sheer bill size is

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<v Speaker 1>the Australian pelican. Its bill can be up to a

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<v Speaker 1>foot and a half long that's about half a meter.

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<v Speaker 1>Pelicans are very social animals, building their nests in colonies.

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<v Speaker 1>The brown pelt is unusual because it's the only species

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<v Speaker 1>to feed by diving headfirst into the water, which is

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<v Speaker 1>called plunge diving. Most other pelicans work together to herd

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<v Speaker 1>schools of fish into shallow water. They then dive in

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<v Speaker 1>and scoop up the fish, often all together as a group.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes pelicans will even tag along with other types of birds,

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<v Speaker 1>tracking their prey in the water, and then steal the

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<v Speaker 1>fish right out from under them. But it's all fair

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<v Speaker 1>in fishery. Pelicans themselves are victims of piracy. On occasion,

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<v Speaker 1>it can take a few seconds for a pelican to

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<v Speaker 1>drain all that water out of its pouch, during which

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<v Speaker 1>time a seagull, often standing on the pelican's head and

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<v Speaker 1>pecking at it as a distraction, will dart into its

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<v Speaker 1>open bill and steal the fish. Pelicans are part of

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<v Speaker 1>the order Pelicanniforms, which includes around fifty species of water birds.

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<v Speaker 1>These birds are distinguished from other orders by their forewhebbed toes,

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that they breathe through their mouths instead of

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<v Speaker 1>nail or nostrils, and their tendency to feed on marine animals.

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<v Speaker 1>And then, of course there's that gooler skin. Though pelicans

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<v Speaker 1>are the only birds with such a huge pouch that

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<v Speaker 1>it can use it to catch meals, other members of

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<v Speaker 1>the order, like the great frigate bird, can puff their

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<v Speaker 1>gooler skin up with air during courtship displays. Pelican's lower mandible,

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<v Speaker 1>that is the bottom half of its bill, is basically

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<v Speaker 1>just a frame around that pouch. By bending its neck,

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<v Speaker 1>it can even turn its pouch inside out. Another unique

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<v Speaker 1>feature is the hook at the tip of the pelican's

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<v Speaker 1>upper mandible. The top half of its bill, which helps

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<v Speaker 1>grab onto particularly slippery or wiggly fish. Here's how it works.

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<v Speaker 1>After locating and scooping up its prey, the pelican opens

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<v Speaker 1>its bill and slowly contracts its pouch to empty out

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<v Speaker 1>the water while keeping the fish inside. Then, with a

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<v Speaker 1>jerk of the bird's head, the fish slides down the hat.

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<v Speaker 1>If a fish is particularly large, the pelican might manipulate

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<v Speaker 1>it so the fish goes down head first, which helps

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<v Speaker 1>prevent it from getting stuck. A pelican can't eat or

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<v Speaker 1>fly away if its pouch is still full of water,

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<v Speaker 1>so that draining process is very important. Okay, can that

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<v Speaker 1>beak and its pouch really hold more than a pelican's stomach?

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<v Speaker 1>There's a reason we ask this question. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>limerick written by humorist Dixon linear Merit in nineteen ten

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<v Speaker 1>that goes, oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican. His

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<v Speaker 1>bill holds more than his pelican. He can take in

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<v Speaker 1>his beak enough food for a week. But I'm darned

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<v Speaker 1>if I know how the helican and the limerick is

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<v Speaker 1>partially accurate. A pelican's bill does have a larger capacity

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<v Speaker 1>than its stomach. Its stomach can hold up to about

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<v Speaker 1>a gallon just under four liters, while its pouch can

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<v Speaker 1>hold up to about three gallons or elevenish leaders. But

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<v Speaker 1>wh well a pelican might technically be able to take

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<v Speaker 1>enough food in its bill for a week, it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>store food there, so what is on the menu. While

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<v Speaker 1>most pelicans eat fish exclusively, they can be opportunistic eaters

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<v Speaker 1>of lizards, frogs, crabs, and lobsters. Pelicans have even been

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<v Speaker 1>observed eating smaller birds, sometimes scooping up water in order

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<v Speaker 1>to drown them before swallowing back. In two thousand and six,

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<v Speaker 1>a photographer in London's Saint James Park recorded an extraordinary site.

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<v Speaker 1>Of the five pelicans living in the park were fed

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<v Speaker 1>a diet of fish, but apparently that wasn't enough for

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<v Speaker 1>one of them. A pelican picked up a pigeon from

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<v Speaker 1>the sidewalk and swallowed it, to the shock and amazement

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<v Speaker 1>of park visitors. Since the incident, other people have claimed

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<v Speaker 1>to see the Saint James Park pelicans eating pigeons. A

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<v Speaker 1>representative for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

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<v Speaker 1>so that this behavior was highly unusual and likely attributed

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<v Speaker 1>to the bird's contact with people and its more urban environment.

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<v Speaker 1>There is, however, other photographic evidence of pelicans trying any

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<v Speaker 1>number of unusual meals out for size, attempting to stretch

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<v Speaker 1>their beaks around everything from cats and dogs to cows

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<v Speaker 1>and capaberas to bear cubs and giraffes, though the pelican's

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<v Speaker 1>photographed seem to have succeeded only in mildly annoying the

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<v Speaker 1>potential meals in question. Aside from catching or annoying their

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<v Speaker 1>potential prey, pelicans use their bill for other things. During courtship,

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<v Speaker 1>male pelicans often stretch out and flap their pouches and

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<v Speaker 1>clap their bills. They may also lash out at rivals

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<v Speaker 1>and other threatening animals with that sharp hook at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the bill. Baby chicks are fed by both parents,

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<v Speaker 1>who regurgitate partially digested fish for them to eat. Chicks

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<v Speaker 1>that are old enough to eat whole fish but not

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<v Speaker 1>yet ready to hunt may be seen fishing for dinner

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<v Speaker 1>inside their parents' pouches, and pelicans that live in warm

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<v Speaker 1>climates sometimes open their bills and flap their pouches in

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<v Speaker 1>order to cool down. Fossil records show that pelicans have

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<v Speaker 1>been around in more or less the same form for

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<v Speaker 1>over forty million years, so regardless of how weird the

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<v Speaker 1>pouch might seem to us, it served the birds well.

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<v Speaker 1>Some species are currently listed as threatened, but with the

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<v Speaker 1>continued efforts of conservationists, hopefully pelicans will be around for

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<v Speaker 1>a long time more and continue to amaze and intrigue us,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if they mostly lay off snacking on pigeons and bears.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article does a Pelican's

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<v Speaker 1>bill hold more than its belly can? On how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, written by Shanna Freeman. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows,