This weekend I was hiking out at the Boulder Walden Ponds and Sawhill Ponds, which despite the fact that one is in the county and another in the city sit right next to each other and have paths that intersect. While out there I discovered one of those things I never knew about Colorado, there are pelicans here. Yes, those birds with the big pouches on their beaks there is a variety that lives out here in the middle of the country far away from any big oceans.The picture in this post is from the USGS's web site on the American White Pelican, which turns out to be the variety I saw this weekend. Apparently, they not only migrate through Colorado, there are actually populations here (see this map) and going north.
Want to learn more about identifying birds? Check out the USGS's Bird Population Studies page, with links all sorts of bird identification information.
Saw a pelican today flying over I25 and Hwy 36, thought I was crazy! Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteApril 2011, migrating pelicans sited in Westminster...
ReplyDeleteIf you happen to see them when they're feeding, it's fascinating. They circle around the fish, then dip like crazy -- sometimes in unison.
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