Hey buddy can you spare a can of mackeral?

[nabisho]

Got these two into the bird repair center. They are pelicans. The one on the left is now a juvenile, he has gone from a 3 lb. eyes closed baby to about 15 lbs. now. The one on the right is his surrogate mother, when they first open their eyes they have to see another pelican or they will imprint on whatever animal they first see including humans. If they imprint ona human they will never be releasable into the wild because they won't know the social structure of the pelicans. They are some of the smartest of all the birds, they hunt in packs, 15-20 of them will deploy into a semi-circle in the water, then 2-3 of them will swim out and find a school of fish then herd the fish back toward the others, when they get the fish into their trap everybody dives and it's fish feast time. These two have to be hand fed 7-8 cans of mackeral a day.



NAB :-)

[mr squeaks]

Thank goodness he didn't imprint on YOU, Nab!

What a great picture! You sure have access to some remarkable birds! What the heck are PELICANS doing in your neck of the land??? Blown off course???

Will they be released? Go to a zoo?

[nabisho]

They like Lake Tahoe and some of our other surrounding lakes like Walker and Topaz. The little fellow on the left will be releasable in another couple weeks we want to get him out there B4 they all migrate back to the ocean. Sadly his surogate mother will never fly again, her left wing was nearly severed from being wrapped in about 50 feet of fishing line (happens all too often), we were able to cut the line loose and sew it back up but the nerves are dead and the tendons are cut, normally she would be PTS right away unless we could find a home for her, but we needed a pelican for the little fellow to imprint on when he opened his eyes so we fixed her best we could. I'm hoping we can find a good petting zoo for her, she is such a really cool and pretty domesticated bird, we're going to hold onto her as long as we can and look for a home for her.

NAB :-)

[mr squeaks]

MMM, too bad she couldn't be "permanent" in case you get in another baby who needs imprinting!

Bless her heart! Give a BIG HUG for me!

[Trees Gray]

What NEAT looking birds. Where in the world did you find a youngster that still had its eyes closed?

Thank you for the explanation on these birds eating habits and imprinting, they are indeed intelligent creatures.

Once again, I thank you for sharing with us, I appreciate it.

[TAWhatley]

Now that is one BIG baby and a terrific picture of baby with the surrogate Mom.

Terry

[Reti]

Lovely birds and so pretty. The youngster is so adorable.
I had no idea about pelicans imprinting on who they see first.

Thanks for the education and pics.

Reti

[nabisho]

Normally pelicans will feed on live fish, they dive down and get a fish then on the way back up the fish is forced into their pouch and when they surface they can swallow the fish, not so on dry land, feeding is a whole other thing. You have to don a rubber glove and put each piece of fish down their throat far enough into their pouch that they can swallow it other wise they will choke and throw it back out. Takes about 1/2 an hour of wrestling to get 3 cans of mackeral down a hungry pelican. Here's the little fellow on his first can, 3 more cans to go! Who said bird rehabbing is easy work?

NAB :-)

[pdpbison]

Hi Nab,


How nice!


What majestic Birds...!

I wonder, would it be any easier if you took the Mackeral out of the can?

( Just kidding...sorry, couldn't resist...)



Best wishes,



Phil
Las Vegas

[Lin Hansen]

Nab,

Great pictures and interesting facts about the Pelicans. Glad that this fellow is turning out to be a success story and hope everything works out for the one with the bad wing.

I was wondering about the feeding.....I was just wondering if it would be any easier and take less time to feed him if you were able to use whole fish instead of the canned food. I'm assuming that the canned food must be pretty small pieces to try to handle and place deep enough down the throat and might be easier doing this with whole fish....also, that's what they'd be eating in the wild. Am guessing that maybe that option might be too expensive or maybe they can't handle large pieces of fish when they are babies.

Anyway, just wondering....thanks again for sharing the story and pictures.

Linda

[Ryiinn]

How fascinating! I've always adored Pellies! You're so lucky to be around them

Awesome pics for sure!!