Pelecanus occidentalis

Also known as American Brown Pelican, California Brown Pelican, Caribbean Brown Pelican

Brown pelicans are spectacular coastal plunge-divers that crash headfirst into the ocean from heights of up to 60 feet to scoop up fish in their expandable throat pouches. These highly social birds fly in graceful, single-file lines or V-formations just inches above the surf, utilizing ground effect to save energy. While silent at sea, they gather in noisy nesting colonies on barrier islands where parents share incubation duties by warming eggs with their webbed feet.