Pelicans with Avocet Flyby

by Judi Dressler

Title

Pelicans with Avocet Flyby

Artist

Judi Dressler

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

How often do you see an image of pelicans and avocets together? I never had before taking this photo! I had been lying on my stomach, photographing some American White Pelicans from a bank above the pond, when these two elegant American Avocets flew by directly overhead. What a lovely bonus!

In the original photo, the pelicans happened to be looking away, so I replaced them with an image taken just a few seconds later when the pelicans were looking forward.

The American White Pelican is one of the largest birds in North America, with a 9-foot wingspan. Similar to the Brown Pelican in shape but much larger, it is very different in habits: it occurs far inland, feeds cooperatively in shallow lakes, and does not dive from the air for fish. Despite its great size, it is a spectacular flier, with flocks often soaring very high in the air, ponderously wheeling and circling in unison.

The American Avocet's long, upturned bill and elegant profile stand out among the other small wading birds. Around lake shores and tidal flats, especially in the wide-open spaces of the west, American Avocets wade in shallow wetlands with little vegetation to hide them, filtering tiny food items from just below the surface. During nesting, they may perform distraction displays to lure predators away from nests and nestlings, often squatting and pretending they're incubating eggs on a nest site, only to fly away and repeat the posture as a predator approaches.

Photo taken on April 22, 2020, in Lafayette, Colorado

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Descriptive keywords and tags for this image include pelicans, avocets, white pelicans, american avocets, american white pelicans, swimming, flying, pond, lake, spring, scene, water, wildlife scene, bird scene, birds, shorebirds, recurvirostra americana, pelecanus erythrorhynchos, colorado, white birds, nature, photo, photograph, photography, dressler, and judi dressler.

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April 24th, 2020

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