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On the Lake with American White Pelicans

10,000 Birds

But now, they’ve decided to become full-time winter residents, resting along the shoreline, fishing in the shallows, swimming past me day in and day out. They migrate north through the Western United States, breeding in pockets all the way up through Canada.

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The American White Pelican Scoops Up Fish As It Swims

10,000 Birds

They occur mainly in western and southern portions of North America, breeding inland in colonies on remote islands and wintering along warm southern coasts 1. In breeding plumage, adult American White Pelicans have a distinct “centerboard&# or “horn&# on the ridge of their bill.

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Birding the Ndumo area, South Africa

10,000 Birds

Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you? The Black Heron – besides looking rather cool, though not really very black – also has an interesting fishing technique. In a 1946 paper , it is called “under-wing fishing”, while nowadays the term “canopy fishing” seems to be preferred.

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Some Ingenuity Can Go a Long Way

10,000 Birds

Perhaps even more interesting is how Green Herons and its relatives have learned to use bait to attract and capture fish. Egyptian Vultures raised is isolation used rocks to crack eggs presented to them. Green Herons have learned to use bait for fishing. This is particularly obvious in urban ponds with lots of small fish.

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New Haunts: Wakulla Springs State Park

10,000 Birds

In fact, the only way to explore this section of the waterway is to take a 45 minute tour on one of their shaded boats, a treat in and of itself because the raised seats mean visitors can take in not only the birds above the water, but the fish and manatees beneath the rippled surface.

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Are Atlantic Puffins in Trouble?

10,000 Birds

That is, warmer oceans are changing fish populations, with butterfish beginning to supplant the herring that Puffins usually feed their young. Food instability also appears to be driving down the weight of adult Puffins, and delaying their breeding. You can watch them in action through through Audubon’s Project Puffin webcams.

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Protection for a fee: Band-tailed Gulls and Red-legged Cormorants

10,000 Birds

Instead of hovering, some gulls have set up territories within breeding colonies of Humboldt seabirds. Gulls will harvest/steal food from breeding birds within their territories and chase away other gulls ensuring that birds within their territories are not swarmed by multiple food thieves. It is going to get rough here….