White pelican spotted at Lake Alice

Staff Reports Posted 16 April 2017 at 8:22 am

CARLTON – Doug Boyer, a nature photographer who lives by Lake Alice, captured these photos of a white pelican at the lake on Saturday.

“You will not believe we saw a white pelican today on Lake Alice, but I have 7 witnesses,” Boyer said in an email with the photos.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the white pelican as “a huge waterbird with very broad wings, a long neck, and a massive bill that gives the head a unique, long shape. They have thick bodies, short legs, and short, square tails. During the breeding season, adults grow an unusual projection or horn on the upper mandible near the tip of the bill.”

The white pelicans are typically found along coasts in winter, they can be found in California’s Central Valley, the Salton Sea, and the Colorado River drainage of California and Arizona. They also spend the winter in Florida.

“They are superb soarers (they are among the heaviest flying birds in the world) and often travel long distances in large flocks by soaring,” according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “When flapping, their wingbeats are slow and methodical.”

For more on white pelicans, click here.

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