Pelicans are at once chaotic, and precise--think beaks and wings crossed and waving during all water landings and take-offs, and then the graceful undulation a small group of them paints across the waves and horizon.
Although pelicans specialize in eating fish, they also prey on crustaceans, amphibians, turtles, and other birds. If it can fit down its throat, it’s fair game. The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 30 million years; the oldest known pelican fossil was found in Early Oligocene deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France, and is similar to modern forms.
A colony of about 200 of them were resting along the shoreline on the way to Ilwaco, Washington from Astoria, Oregon. Humbling.
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