The Eastern Brown Pelican is a brownish-gray bird with a large
pouch under its beak. Pelicans live in Florida in very large numbers
in the bird preservation area known as Pelican Island.
Pelicans reproduce once a year, laying two to three eggs at a time.
The male and female pelicans work together to make the nest and
incubate the eggs. The males collect the building material and the
females build the nest. The nests are on the ground.
They incubate the eggs for 28 to 30 days.
It is amazing that Pelican chicks can learn to communicate with
their parents while they are still inside the egg. Pelican chicks
make sounds from inside the egg when they are too hot or cold!
Both parents feed and care for their young. They take turns
catching fish during the day, and bring the fish back to the nest,
carrying it in their beaks. The young pelicans dip their beaks into
the parents’ beaks to get the fish. Baby pelicans often learn to
swim before they learn to fly.