{"id":85853,"date":"2020-06-02T06:08:12","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T12:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=85853"},"modified":"2020-06-02T06:17:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T12:17:05","slug":"american-white-pelican-a-question-of-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/02\/american-white-pelican-a-question-of-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"American White Pelican – A Question Of Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been perplexed and curious about something I watched this pelican do for over six years now. But the purpose I tentatively propose for the behavior I documented in these photos seems more than a little far fetched so I’ve never brought it up.<\/p>\n

Until recently I’d largely put it out of my mind but six days ago I posted one of the photos in the series below to Feathered Photography. As a result it’s been niggling at me again so it’s time to put it out there and let the chips fall where they may.<\/p>\n

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On April 21, 2014 at Bear River MBR I photographed the pelican on the right trying to swallow a huge carp. The fish was so big it seriously deformed the pelican’s pouch. But the size of the fish wasn’t its only problem – the pelican on the left was very aggressive in trying to steal the fish.<\/p>\n

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The aggressor turned its head sideways and grasped the head and pouch of the rightful owner of the fish in its bill.<\/p>\n

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The hook or ‘nail’ at the end of the aggressor’s upper mandible that typically functions as a tool for holding on to slippery fish was very effective in holding on to the pouch of the pelican with the fish.<\/p>\n

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Occasionally the pelican would temporarily escape its tormenter and…<\/p>\n

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tip its head and bill vertically in order to allow gravity to assist it in swallowing the fish.<\/p>\n

This photo is very similar to the next one but I’m including both to show that even though the fish-owner’s wings were raised it made no attempt to take off and fly with the fish.<\/p>\n

Could the wings in this position have had another purpose?<\/p>\n

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This is the photo I posted six days ago, the one responsible for today’s post and the one that’s key to my question about behavior. In this version I’ve cropped it differently so we can see the pursuing pelican.<\/p>\n

The pelican with the fish was desperate to swallow it and end the conflict in its favor, so here’s my question: Could it have been using its wrist joint (some might call it the elbow) to assist in forcing or massaging the fish down its throat – in effect using its wings almost as we might use our hands?<\/p>\n

That possibility occurred to me while I was taking the photos in the field and again later that day when I looked at them more carefully on my computer.<\/p>\n

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A tighter crop of the previous photo for a little more detail.<\/p>\n

In the last two photos the wing joint is at the perfect place on the pouch to push the bulk of the fish down the throat and it’s moving in the right direction to accomplish it but I can’t tell for sure if the wings were pressing inward on the pouch and fish or not. But to me it looks like they’re at least touching the pouch.<\/p>\n

I’ve tried doing research to find out if massaging large, difficult to swallow fish down the throat with their wings is a known behavior in this species but came up empty. It seems like a bit of a long shot that I’ve documented a pelican actually doing it but I’d sure like to know if there’s any possibility I have.<\/p>\n

Any thoughts from my readers? Are there other instances where birds are known to use their wings for manipulation almost like we might use our hands?<\/p>\n

I may wish I’d never brought this subject up but it would be good to get it off my mind, one way or another.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n