Few birds are as instantly recognizable as the pelican. With its enormous bill, enormous throat pouch, long wings and slightly comical appearance on land, the pelican seems almost prehistoric. Along the Pacific coast of Panama, however, these remarkable birds are a familiar and important part of the coastal landscape. You can see them sitting on rocks, fishing boats, mangrove branches, docks and small islands, or gliding just above the surface of the ocean in long, graceful lines.
The pelican found in Panama is the Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis. Historical Smithsonian records specifically identify the Brown Pelican as the pelican species reaching Panama, and describe it as a bird strongly associated with saltwater and brackish habitats.
What makes the pelican particularly fascinating is that beneath its almost comical appearance is an incredibly specialized predator. Its huge bill is not simply oversized for appearance. The enormous pouch beneath it is a sophisticated fishing tool, its body contains adaptations for spectacular dives, and its entire life cycle is closely connected to the ocean.
A Bird Built for the Sea
Brown Pelicans are primarily coastal birds. They are found around bays, estuaries, mangroves, islands and shallow marine waters, and they are particularly comfortable around areas where fish concentrate. In Panama, this makes the country's Pacific coastline an excellent environment for them. They can be seen around the Gulf of Panama, the Pearl Islands and other coastal areas where productive waters provide abundant food. Historical Smithsonian observations from the Pearl Islands recorded pelicans gathering in large numbers when schools of small fish appeared.
Their body is remarkably adapted to this lifestyle. Adults can reach roughly 1.5 meters in length, with wingspans approaching 2 meters. They have powerful wings for long gliding flights, webbed feet for swimming and an enormous bill equipped with a flexible throat pouch.
Yet perhaps their most extraordinary adaptation is something that happens when they hunt.
The Spectacular Pelican Dive
Watch a Brown Pelican fishing and you suddenly understand how extraordinary this bird really is.
The pelican may fly above the ocean, sometimes tens of meters above the surface, scanning the water below with remarkable eyesight. When it spots a fish, it folds its wings back and plunges almost vertically toward the sea.
This is not a gentle landing.
The bird hits the water headfirst with extraordinary force, completely or partially submerging itself. Brown Pelicans are unique among pelicans for regularly using this dramatic plunge diving technique. Air sacs beneath their skin help cushion the impact, allowing the bird to perform a maneuver that would be extremely dangerous for an ordinary bird.
The sight is spectacular. A bird that appeared to be casually gliding over the ocean suddenly folds its wings and becomes almost like a spear falling from the sky.
Then there is a huge splash.
A few seconds later, the pelican emerges, shakes itself and begins preparing its meal.
The Amazing Pouch
The famous pouch beneath the pelican's bill is one of the most misunderstood features of the bird.
People sometimes imagine that the pelican simply scoops up fish and carries them around in a giant bag. The reality is more interesting.
When the pelican plunges into the water, the expandable pouch captures fish along with a considerable amount of water. The bird then raises its head and allows the water to drain away before swallowing its prey. The pouch can hold several times more than the bird's stomach and can contain a remarkable volume of water.
The pelican therefore isn't using the pouch like a permanent shopping bag.
It is more like a highly effective living fishing net.
The pouch also has another purpose. Because it contains blood vessels and exposed skin, it can help the bird cool itself. In extremely hot conditions, pelicans can flutter or vibrate the pouch area, helping with heat exchange.
A feature that looks almost ridiculous at first therefore turns out to be an incredibly sophisticated biological adaptation.
What Do Pelicans Eat?
Fish make up the majority of a Brown Pelican's diet. They are particularly interested in relatively small fish that gather near the surface, although they can also consume some crustaceans and other marine prey.
This explains why pelicans often appear around fishing areas.
Where there are fish, there may be pelicans.
And where fishermen discover large schools of fish, pelicans can sometimes appear in impressive numbers.
Historical observations from Panama's Pearl Islands described groups of up to around one hundred pelicans gathering when schools of small fish were present.
Their presence can therefore be an indication that something interesting is happening beneath the surface.
Life Begins in a Colony
The life of a pelican begins in a very different environment from the open ocean.
Brown Pelicans generally breed in colonies, sometimes containing hundreds or even thousands of pairs. They often select islands or other locations where terrestrial predators are limited. Depending on the location, nests can be built on the ground, in shrubs or in trees.
The breeding process begins when the male establishes and defends a potential nesting site. He performs courtship displays to attract a female, and once a pair forms, the birds work together on reproduction and raising their young.
The female typically lays several eggs, and both parents participate in incubation and care of the chicks.
This is particularly important because baby pelicans are born extraordinarily helpless.
Baby Pelicans Are Almost Unrecognizable
A newly hatched pelican looks nothing like the elegant adult soaring above the ocean.
The chicks hatch without feathers and are completely dependent on their parents. They cannot fly, hunt or protect themselves. During the early weeks, at least one parent remains with them while the other searches for food.
The parents initially feed their young partially digested food. As the chicks become larger, they develop the remarkable ability to reach into the parent's pouch and retrieve whole fish.
Imagine being a baby pelican and having your lunch delivered by your parent inside its giant fishing pouch.
It is an extraordinary feeding system.
The chicks remain dependent on their parents for a considerable period while they grow, develop feathers and gradually learn the skills they will need to survive.
From Helpless Chick to Ocean Predator
The transformation is remarkable.
A tiny, featherless chick eventually becomes a large juvenile covered in brown and gray plumage. Its wings grow, its muscles develop and it begins practicing the movements that will eventually allow it to fly.
Young pelicans also have to learn how to fish.
That means learning something that seems almost impossible when you think about it: how to fly above the ocean, judge the position of a fish from the air, fold the wings at exactly the right moment and plunge into the water without injuring themselves.
The first dives are part of the learning process.
Eventually, the awkward young bird becomes one of the most spectacular fishing predators on the coast.
Brown Pelicans generally take several years to acquire their full adult appearance, with adult plumage developing over roughly three years.
Pelicans Are Surprisingly Long Lived
Despite their awkward appearance, pelicans can live for many years.
Brown Pelicans typically live around 25 to 30 years.
That means the pelican you see sitting on a dock in Panama could potentially have been alive for decades.
It may have experienced countless breeding seasons, storms, changes in fish populations and thousands of fishing trips.
A bird that appears to be simply waiting around on a pier may actually be an experienced adult that has spent years mastering the coastline.
Why Do Pelicans Fly So Close to the Water?
There is another beautiful behavior you will often see along Panama's coast.
Pelicans frequently fly in lines just above the surface of the water.
Their large wings make them surprisingly graceful, and they can use the aerodynamic effect created by flying close to the ocean to make long flights more efficient. Groups may travel in lines or loose formations, occasionally changing position as they move along the coast.
Watching a group of pelicans flying low over the Pacific can be almost hypnotic.
Their wingbeats are slow and powerful.
Then they glide.
Then another few wingbeats.
Then another glide.
Against the blue water and tropical coastline, it is one of the classic images of Panama.
The Social Life of Pelicans
Pelicans are highly social birds. They often rest together, feed in groups and breed in colonies. Adults and juveniles can spend considerable amounts of time in the company of other pelicans.
But they are not constantly making noise.
In fact, adult Brown Pelicans are relatively quiet compared with many other seabirds. They can produce low vocalizations, while young birds are much more vocal when demanding food.
This makes a large group of pelicans sitting silently on a rock particularly interesting.
You can have dozens of enormous birds gathered together with remarkably little sound.
Then suddenly one takes off, another follows and within seconds the entire group can be airborne.
Pelicans and Fishermen
Pelicans have a complicated relationship with humans.
Fishing communities have long noticed the birds following boats and gathering where fish are abundant. Pelicans can benefit from discarded fish or scraps, but interactions with fishing equipment can also become dangerous.
Discarded fishing lines and hooks are serious hazards. A pelican that becomes tangled can suffer severe injuries or die.
This is an important reminder when visiting Panama's beaches, docks and fishing areas. Something as simple as properly disposing of fishing line can make a real difference to coastal wildlife.
The Smithsonian identifies abandoned fishing gear, marine debris, overhead wires and disturbance around nesting colonies as ongoing threats to Brown Pelicans.
A Remarkable Conservation Story
The history of the Brown Pelican is also a lesson in how quickly human activity can affect wildlife.
In the twentieth century, populations were devastated in parts of their range by the pesticide DDT. The chemical interfered with calcium metabolism and caused pelicans to produce eggs with dangerously thin shells. Eggs were easily broken during incubation, causing breeding success to collapse.
The species was eventually protected, and DDT was banned in the United States in 1972.
The results were dramatic.
Pelican populations recovered, and in 2009 the Brown Pelican was removed from the United States Endangered Species List.
It is one of the great conservation success stories involving a coastal bird.
But the story also provides a warning. Recovery does not mean that pelicans no longer need protection. Modern threats include fishing gear, marine pollution, disturbance of nesting colonies, habitat changes and reductions in food availability.
Pelicans in Panama's Coastal World
In Panama, pelicans fit perfectly into the country's extraordinary Pacific environment.
They can be found around islands, bays, mangroves and fishing communities. In places such as the Gulf of Panama and the Pearl Islands, they are part of a much larger marine ecosystem that includes dolphins, sea turtles, rays, seabirds and enormous seasonal visitors such as humpback whales.
This is one of the reasons Panama is so special for nature lovers.
You can be standing on a beach watching pelicans dive for fish while, somewhere beyond the horizon, humpback whales are moving through the same ocean.
The pelican represents the everyday wildlife of the coast, while the whales represent the enormous migrations that connect Panama with distant parts of the Pacific.
The Pelican as a Symbol of the Ocean
Perhaps what makes pelicans so fascinating is the combination of awkwardness and perfection.
On land, they can look almost ridiculous. They waddle, sit around with enormous bills and sometimes appear completely uninterested in what is happening around them.
But put one above the ocean and everything changes.
The wings become graceful.
The eyes become intensely focused.
The body becomes streamlined.
The bird spots a fish.
The wings fold.
And suddenly the apparently clumsy pelican becomes a precision predator, dropping from the sky into the Pacific with extraordinary accuracy.
Its giant pouch, strange bill and unusual body shape are not imperfections. Every feature has a purpose.
A Bird Worth Watching
The next time you see a pelican in Panama, it is worth stopping for a moment rather than simply walking past.
Watch how it sits.
Watch how it flies.
Look at the way it glides just above the water.
Look for groups gathered around fishing boats.
And if you are extraordinarily lucky, watch one spot a fish from above and perform its spectacular plunge.
That single moment reveals the incredible evolutionary story hidden behind this seemingly ordinary coastal bird.
Pelicans are not just large birds sitting beside the ocean. They are highly specialized marine predators, devoted parents, social colony breeders and remarkably successful survivors. In Panama, where the Pacific coastline provides an extraordinary abundance of marine habitats, they have become one of the most recognizable and fascinating symbols of life beside the sea.*