Pelicans and Other Fishing Birds: How They Really Hunt

Great white pelican on water with pouch visible — A great white pelican. The pouch is a net, not a storage bag. Photo: Charles J. Sharp — CC BY-SA 4.0

A pelican's pouch holds more water than a bucket, and a gannet hits the sea at motorway speed. Here is how fishing birds hunt, and how to watch them without causing harm.

Pelicans flying in formation — Pelicans often fish cooperatively, herding shoals into shallows. Photo: Rui Ornelas from Lisboa, Portugal — CC BY 2.0

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Photography credits: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons