Cabrillo Field Notes

 

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Cabrillo National Monument protects a unique and diverse landscape thriving with life. Follow our science teams into the field and discover the stories of our park’s natural resources and beyond.

Excuse Me, What Do You Keep in Your Gular Pouch?

January 23, 2020 Posted by: Conservation and Environmental Stewardship Apprentice Violeta Anghel

Dixon Lanier Merritt wrote a great limerick regarding our fine feathered friend in 1910:
"Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week.
But I'm darned if I know how the helican."
In this field note we discuss the Brown Pelican, the uses of its gular pouch, its diet, description, and, finally, its range.

gular pouch, pelican, Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Birds, water birds, Cabrillo National Monument, nests, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus,, California Brown Pelican, National Park Service, Dixon Lanier Merritt