Pelicans doing the Can Can dance!
This is a series of photos taken in Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks (A long stretch of North Carolina islands stretching from Virginia to South Carolina).
Coming in at 10-17 lbs, you would think the Pelican would not be so inclined to take to the skies, but don't let it's size and bulky, almost clumsy, body fool you. They are one of the strongest and most beautifully graceful birds in flight! Masters of flight, in fact. They are capable of dive bombing from great heights with such precision, it defies logic.
With a wing span of 5 feet, they are a noticeable presence gliding the skies. It's almost as if they are soaring on cruise control.
Some pretty cool facts I found about Pelicans:
They can live up to 43 years!
The pouch on the Pelican can hold more food than its belly.
A collective grouping of Pelicans is called a "squadron".
Pelicans are very ancient birds! In fact, the basic features of all pelicans haven't changed much in the last 30-40 million years.
Unlike other birds that use their body's warmth to incubate their eggs, Pelicans use their webbed feet.
The Brown Pelican was so endangered in the 1960s and 1970s due to DDT (https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status), but has made an impressive comeback in recent years.
The sweetest fact of all is that the male Pelicans attract females by choosing a nest site and convincing her to build a nest together!
Pelicans have no nostrils and actually breathe through their beaks.
There are 8 different species of Pelicans living on coastlines all over the world.
Due to Pelicans social appetite, they really enjoy being around other pelicans and love to socialize with other birds.
The largest species of Pelican is the Dalmatian (also very rare) which has a wing span of 11 feet!
All photos original works by @youhavewings. Hope you enjoy these pelicans as I did.
If I was a pelican I would do the can can here too. It looks like a great spot. The have great balance, too.
It is a fabulous spot! - right at the gateway to where the wild horses roam. I literally had to hop a fence to get to it (there for the horses so they stay safe).
I truly wish I knew why they were doing this little dance - maybe just a 'happy dance'.
Great images 💚❤ Congrats on being chosen by @asapers I am here because of them!!
I can't express enough how ASAPers and a few others do to help us plankton folk :) And they are super nice people, too. I would definitely have to agree with you. :)
Thank you for sharing this marvellous photos & infos....
you really caught them dancing !!! :-)
You're very welcome, @lastravage. And thank you! I was bursting to share the peli-can-can ;) When I pulled up their photos, I couldn't believe it. I have no idea what they were doing - maybe I need to ask a pelican expert ;) Super cute though.
beautiful post and amazing photos of birds!!!
Thank you so much, @vipnata :)
What awesome shots, I love the peli can can dance. Hahaha. You did well deciding on which images to use. I know its so hard picking when you have so man. I also love the fun facts. I never thought about them not having nostrils. I wonder if thats all birds or just the pelican...
Thank you! Very good question. I'll put that on my list of questions to solve today :) I had such a hard time choosing the photos and if I had to do it again, I'd probably still have a hard time! ha :)
Haha yeah and you probably would have ended up with a whole different set but this lot got you featured in the world of photography and a few other curation posts so that is pretty cool.
What? I need to catch up - I was out all day with kiddos yesterday. That is pretty cool :)
BTW, I couldn't find an answer to your question....still looking. There must be a 'term' for this type of beak in order to do a search.
I put it in their curation feed for you and they picked you, i didn't know you were part of the room until after I did that, I also added it to the c-squared post promo too :)
Yes, I saw ASAPers and C-squared :) Thank you for that. I'm trying to catch up! I'll be stationery most of today.
Great images again! Wonderful bird - thanks for sharing!
(Oh, you can get extra exposure by tagging @yourluckyphotos - they'd be happy to resteem you.)
I should try that sometime, Thank you and thank you for the advise - I'll try that.
I'm outta steem, @viking-ventures....I will catch you when I recharge ;) Just imagine an upvote for now.
I seem to be mostly out of steem these days - especially after the Pay it Forward posts! It's all good.
Okay ;)
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Winner, thanks heaps for curation her for me, its a good post with some great images to boot. :)
Thank you!
Thank you so much!
These are great pictures. And you accompany them with a very engaging narrative. I think this is how photos should be posted, they should constitute part of some larger story. Looking at your really great photos here and following along the description as you give, i can finally sigh and say....I know something about Pelicans.
btw, my Secondary school badge had a Pelican as its main symbol! So just know i am somewhat drawn to Pelicans!
Thank you for your helpful comment, @mirrors.
Not all photos have a story, but some do...some are meant to just take in.
I just fell in love with pelicans while on this trip. This spot was definitely where all the pelicans went to socialize. I took over a 100 and they were all very interesting and good (I give credit to them, of course!). I could have stayed there forever photographing them - it was a special gift to finally see them up-close.
So I am, like you, a forever fan of them - They are truly sweet birds.
A very detailed description about pelican...❤
Surely this post is very entertaining, useful, and add knowledge to us all...
Thanks for sharing & have a great time, dear friend @youhavewings...😀🤗☕❤
Thank you, @zaimrofiqui :)
I had no idea that they can live so long. I had to google dalmatian because that's impressive and a huge bird
Oh, you looked it up - I'm excited to look that pelican up, too! That sounds like a HUGE wing span!
Big ass bird. LOL
Yea it was an interesting read and looked at three different links. and it almost 6 ft long. It would look like an airplane swooping above your head
6 ft long?!!!! Wow! I posted a link in the comments to some photos but didn't get the comparison of size since most were with each other.
Oh yeah, this bird would block the sun LOL! I would love to photograph them!! Wonder if there are in in the states. So cool! Thanks, @woldfhart for the added info
mediterranean is what I got and they migrate north or north east
If they came here they would have to be cleared by ATC.
I like to see one getting of the ground :)
Seriously, LOL ATC
Yes, that would be amazing to watch them lift off
Beautiful shots! It looks as if they posed for you and they enjoyed as well the photo sessions!
They were very aware that I was there and photographing. I was very grateful that they didn't feel threatened. I did a slow approach and then sat down. But they all seemed to be very comfortable with human presence. Next time I'll bring fish ;) hehe Least I can do for such wonderful subjects.
Congratulations @youhavewings, your post has been selected by the @asapers for a resteem and a feature in our brand new curation post. Issue 68
What does this mean for you? Well first an upvote from some members of the team, we are no @curie or @ocd but who is going to be unhappy with some extra upvotes. Also each post featured in the article will receive a 10% share of the SBD generated from the curation post.
Keep up the great work and please consider supporting the @asapers with an upvote and/or a resteem on the post you feature in. Please wait seven to ten days for payout.
Your friendly @asapers
Giving back A.S.A.P
Thanks for being awesome as always! Love these images, it looks like you had a great time taking all the shots and the hardest part was deciding which to use. :) @insideoutlet.
Thank you @ASAPers :)
A wonderful beast is a pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
Nice! :) @shai-hulud
@shai-hulud I just realized that you are @insideoutlet's hubby....Congratulations on your new baby!
thats me otherwise known as the less useful founder of the @asapers
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birds flying in the sky. very beautiful and captivating photos
Thank you @muftii
I've never seen pelicans in my whole life! :)
Thanks for sharing this wonderful photos. :)
#thehive
Thank you! And I hope that you do get that opportunity. They are truly a marvel to see in person.
Ow! I'm excited. Maybe I can see it when I visit a zoo in the future! :)
What wonderful photographs! I agree, #7 is the sweetest fact of all. Sensible birds--may help to explain their long life span :)
I agree, @agmoore :) And thank you.
Here's the largest Pelican, the Dalmation (fascinating!): http://www.focus-on-wildlife.com/page-5/page-3/page-36/
It looks as if every photograph is a painting. What did you do to the background? Did you alter that pictures with a certain software? You did a good job if so. The birds are so crystal clear ... even my kind of worn out eyes can see them so vividly. LOL.
Pelicans don't live here so I never get to see one. But wow, do they look impressive. Interesting to read also some facts about those animals. I am not surprised to find them ancient as they remind me for some reason on the Archeopteryx I was taught in school about:) But nice to see it confirmed, now.
Hi Erika! Amazingly, most of the 100+ photos I took came out beautiful already without anything. So hard to pick and choose through those for this post. However, I did remove some of the stark blue sky behind them so they would stand out more as the subject and I added some soft lighting behind them to highlight their expressions. That is probably it - they really didn't need much - what you see is what they looked like. Glad to hear that you approve of the background color though - what I think looks good might not be what other people think looks good. So thank you for your very helpful comment!
I think also my Nikon P900 camera has already proved itself worthy. I was seriously doubting it the first run as all my photos came back blurry, but given that I am feeling more comfortable with it and learning its personality, it definitely impressed me with this session (and the horses!). It's like a powerful telephoto lens x60. I was pretty close to them, but not that close and yes they turned out very clear. I bought it specifically for bird photography. You can also get lenses for it that will make it a 'macro' camera - perfect for those nature walks that I love so much - don't have to carry multiple camera bags and equipment.
Software I use is Photoshop.
Beautiful birds and very impressive narration.
Thank you, @abbiephoto
Nice shots!
Thank you, @rayshiuimages
Honey
Bomb
Magnificent shots!
Thank you @lady-idra :)
Beautiful series here. 7th shot is my favorite. Love the black and white on him. Looks like it's built for speed and about to take off!
Thank you, @eyeofthemind. That is one of my favorites, too. Royal Tern :)
Beautiful photos! Almost looks like they were taken in a studio with that perfectly smooth background!
Thank you, @frejafri
Perfect post!
Your photography as always is outstanding. One of the shots shows the pelicans eye so clearly it almost looks like a human eye (incredible). I also love the education I get whenever I read one of your posts.