The Spot-billed Pelican The spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) is a relatively small pelican but still a large bird. It is mainly white, with a grey crest, hindneck and a brownish tail. The feathers on the hind neck are curly and form a greyish nape crest. The pouch is pink to purplish and has large pale spots, and is also spotted on the sides of the upper mandible. The tip of the bill (or nail) is yellow to orange. In breeding plumage, the skin at the base of the beak is dark and the orbital patch is pink. In flight they look not unlike the Dalmatian pelican but the tertials and inner secondaries are darker and a pale band runs along the greater coverts. The tail is rounder. The courtship display of the males involves a distention of the pouch with swinging motions of the head up and down followed by sideways swings followed by the head being held back over the back. Bill claps may also be produced during the head swaying movements. The newly hatched young are covered in white down. They then moult into a greyish speckled plumage. The spots on the bill appear only after a year. They are very silent although at their nests they can make hisses, grunts or snap their bills. it catches fish in its huge bill pouch while swimming at the surface. They are difficult to differentiate from other pelicans in the region although it is smaller but at close range the spots on the upper mandible, the lack of bright colours and the greyer plumage are distinctive. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes. Picture shot at Coimbatore on may 2014. Device – Canon 1Ds Mark III Focal Length – 200mm Aperture – F/7.1 Shutter Speed – 1/500s Exposure mode – Manual Metering – Matrix
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 08:13:30 +0000
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