By Hanson Tjung Among all birds, I love Pelican the most. I don’t know why, maybe because of the bill.
According to wikipedia, a pelican, derived from the Greek word pelekys (meaning “axe” and applied to birds that cut wood with their bills or beaks) is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae. Pelicans are large birds with large pouched bills.
Pelicans swim well with their short, strong legs and their feet with all four toes webbed (as in all birds placed in the order Pelecaniformes). The tail is short and square, with 20 to 24 feathers. The wings are long and have the unusually large number of 30 to 35 secondary flight feathers. A layer of special fibers deep in the breast muscles can hold the wings rigidly horizontal for gliding and soaring.
These photos were shot when I was in Singapore (Jurong Bird Park) for vacation, around 12-15 Feb 2011, I guess. Photo below was one of my fav since the moment when the pelican ate fish was caught and ta-da! I was there standing, have no idea what the pelican did with the fish thrown to it.
Be blessed!