Penny Wallace

Science/English

November 15, 2015

The Brown Pelican

The brown pelican or Pelecanus occidentalis lives along beaches and shorelines near shallow waters. Brown pelicans have been spotted gliding upon estuaries, piers, and jetties along the Atlantic coast. The domain for this organism is eukaryote and the kingdom is animalia. The phylum is Chordata and the class is aves. The order is pelecaniformes and the family is pelecaniformes. The genus and species is Pelecanus occidentalis. The brown pelican has bilateral symmetry. It can grow up to 50 inches in length. The wingspan is six feet. Adults have dark colors all over their body with white coloring on its neck and pale yellow on its forehead. It's legs are grayish, black. An adaptation of this organism is how it has a long pointy beak that helps it have a sharp dive into the water to swallow fish. That adaptation is structural and functional. Another adaptation is that it has a throat pouch which holds onto squirming fish and larger prey in its mouth. That adaptation is functional. Finally, the last adaptation is that it has excellent eyesight so it can see schools of fish high up in the air. That adaptation is structural. An interesting fact about this organism is that it is the smallest pelican species in the world. Another interesting fact is that it's throat pouch can hold up to three times as much as its stomach. Prey to this organism are fishes, such as herring, silversides, menhaden, and other fishes. There are not many natural predators to brown pelicans. Although, humans are a predator to brown pelicans by hunting and leaving garbage all over the place! This organism is a heterotroph, meaning it relies on other organism for food which gives the organism energy. The brown pelican is endothermic meaning it is warm blooded.

(works cited) I got my information from : 

"Brown Pelican"

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/brown_pelican 

and 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/id

14 Nov. 2015.