birding-aus

Re Pelican flight habits

To: 'John Leonard' <>, 'Birding-aus' <>
Subject: Re Pelican flight habits
From: Peter Shute <>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:11:32 +1100
Or perhaps it's just an easy way of gaining height. If they can get high enough 
on that thermal then they can just glide to their destination. According to 
this page, they can reach 3000m: 
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/pelicans-in-australia.htm 

"WHILE STUDYING THE ECOLOGY of the Coongie Lakes in far north-east South 
Australia, I would sometimes lie back in awe and watch the spectacle of one or 
two thousand pelicans take off from one lake, flapping initially and 
increasingly soaring upward in spirals, until at a great height one bird would 
take the lead, break out of the thermal that was carrying it aloft and head for 
a distant lake, with successive birds peeling off one by one to follow its 
lead. It could take half an hour for a large flock to take flight in this 
staged manner, climb the thermals and follow the lines of departing birds to 
their new feeding grounds. This was a middle-of-the-day phenomenon, often late 
morning, when the thermals had begun to develop."

Peter Shute

-----Original Message-----
From:  
 On Behalf Of John Leonard
Sent: Friday, 12 October 2012 12:48 PM
To: Birding-aus
Subject: Re Pelican flight habits

I have always assumed they do this when there is a suitable thermal and use it 
as a way of constructing a pelican map of the area for ten of kilometers 
around. That is, they rise up and by looking in all directions see whether 
other Pelicans are also soaring from other lakes or bodies of water. Then the 
Pelican can remember observations like "good colony of pelicans about 30 km 
north, possibility of resources there if these dry up".

John Leonard

On 12 October 2012 11:35, Keith Brandwood <> wrote:

> would not you enjoy the pleasure of being lifted high on a thermal and 
> viewing our wonderful country



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU