WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:03.120 Oh hey, it's that lady in the park just staring 2 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.400 at pigeons, trying to imagine what's on their minds. Ali 3 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:10.400 word back with more ologies to gulp into your mouth, pouch, 4 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:15.400 oh open wide for Thismology's episode about pelicans. Here's the deal. 5 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:19.160 If you're like, what's smologies? Asmologies are shorter, edited versions. 6 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.320 They're g rated, so they're classroom safe. This one is 7 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:24.480 all about birds with big mouths now. If you want 8 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:27.000 the full episode, you can click the link in the 9 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:29.679 show notes. Those are a little racier, more in depth. 10 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:32.000 But this is a great digest if you're carpooling to 11 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:34.439 school or you need something to send your grandma. If 12 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:40.240 she does not swear, maybe she does, but anyway, clean version, shorter, enjoy. Okay, pelicanology. 13 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:43.399 Others have used this word before, so we're using it now. 14 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:47.679 So pelican seems to come from pelicus, which is the 15 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:52.119 Greek for ax, because of the bird's long axe. Handily, 16 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.799 Bill So I started following this ologist recently and her 17 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.560 pinned tweet is a video of what appears to be 18 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.880 tiny plucked chickens that are dancing, but they are actually 19 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:06.040 squawking pelican infants, And I love them. So I messaged 20 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.640 her three words in all caps, let's talk delicans as 21 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.959 one does in a professional correspondence, and her response was 22 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.200 I can talk about dinosaur f loofs all day. So 23 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.280 we hopped on the horn to chat about bird nerds 24 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:25.560 and big bills and saggy sacks, wingspans, spine illusions, dive 25 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.719 bombs and more. So open your ears and mouth pouches 26 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:51.120 for Pelicanologists, Jueta Martinez, alogy milogychious knowledgies. Have you ever 27 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.879 been like there needs to be a Pelicanology episode? 28 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:57.959 I mean on the inside, like very deep. 29 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:01.120 Maybe you would know that you're going to know this 30 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:04.640 better than I would. Are you a pelicanologist? Have you 31 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:05.560 ever used that word? 32 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:08.680 I actually have never used that word. 33 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:12.120 But starting from today, I'm actually going to change my 34 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:12.879 Twitter bio. 35 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.680 I checked, and she changed her Twitter bio to read 36 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:20.319 PhD student hashtag dinosaur f loofs equals brown pelicans plus 37 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:26.520 pelicanology And now what about brown pelicans? First off, what 38 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:29.360 is a pelican? Is a pelican only the kind of 39 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.319 have the purse attached to their face. 40 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.520 I've never actually heard someone say that. That is awesome. 41 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:37.800 I love that description of it. 42 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.639 So a handbag for a mouth. 43 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:44.319 That is a good one. I love it. 44 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.199 Yes, So all pelicans have a purse which is better 45 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:52.960 known as a google arm pouch, and that's what helps 46 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:53.560 them survive. 47 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:56.879 That is how they catch their food. Gool art means 48 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.960 throat in Latin. So what google arc pouch is pelican 49 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:02.280 face person, That's what it is. 50 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:08.439 Brown pelicans specifically actually plunge dive, so from about thirty 51 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:10.879 feet or so up in the air, they will spot 52 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.639 school of fish and then just dive down and use 53 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.360 that pouch to basically scoop up all the fish. It's 54 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:17.039 in my purse. 55 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:19.280 And what do they do with all the water that 56 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:20.400 they also scoop up? 57 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.159 So if there's other birds around, such as gulls that 58 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:27.759 try to like steal the fish from their mouths, they 59 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:32.159 will just slightly open their builds and let the water 60 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:36.039 like seep out until there's just fish in their pouch. 61 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:39.080 Why do they need so many fish? This is what 62 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:41.319 I can't understand because they're kind of big birds, right, 63 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.199 But other big birds they catch a fish, they catch 64 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.000 a thing at a time. But pelicans are like in it. 65 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:52.479 I feel like they have the best equipment in the game, 66 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.199 Like why do they need to catch so much fish? 67 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.280 I would think it depends on the season. 68 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.120 So if they're trying to feed their chicks, they have 69 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:04.919 about a maximum of three chicks. So if you think 70 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:09.080 about a pelican, they're about sixteen pounds, which is quite 71 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.039 a bit of weight. And on top of that, they 72 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:15.879 have to feed themselves have enough energy to fly around 73 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:19.800 and catch the fish. But then they also have one 74 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.439 to three mouths to feed. They're gonna need quite a 75 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.720 bit of fish for that. And these pelicans are born 76 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.240 completely naked and with their eyes shut, so they're completely 77 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.800 reliant on their parents for quite a few months. 78 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.000 And then what about their wingspan? Because the sixteen pound 79 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.279 bird's pretty big. How big are the wings to keep 80 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:41.839 it aloft? 81 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:45.519 It's about six feet, which is taller than me. 82 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.759 Oh that's huge. Yeah, that's like a condor size, right. 83 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:53.800 Yeah, it's a good social distancing size. 84 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:56.079 Oh my god. 85 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.240 That needs to be your new campaign. Is everyone's stay 86 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:03.079 one pelican wingspan away from each omd oh my god. 87 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:06.680 So sixteen pounds six feet? Because are they all inland? 88 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:11.879 I mean, are they all golf or or coastal or 89 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:12.720 are they inland too? 90 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:14.560 So we have two species. 91 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.360 In North America, we have the brown pelican and the 92 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:20.959 white pelican, And actually the brown pelican is smaller than 93 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.199 the white pelican by about ten pounds or so. 94 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:25.839 And the brown. 95 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.800 Pelican stays on a coastline like up and down the 96 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:31.399 West coast and then throughout the Gulf of Mexico and 97 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.360 up to North Carolina ish And the white pelicans, on 98 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:37.079 the other hand, you can't see them on the coast, 99 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:38.399 but they breed inland. 100 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:40.759 How many pelican species are there in the world. I 101 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.319 looked it up. There are eight, in case that ever 102 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.360 comes up in a game of Pelican trivia. And now 103 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.959 you call them flute dinosaurs, dinosaur. 104 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:51.519 Flufes, dinosaur blops. 105 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:53.279 Are they really fuzzy? 106 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.040 Okay? So there's like this middle stage. 107 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:59.839 They're born naked and then they start getting these little 108 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.519 hint feathers and they get their down feathers first. And 109 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:09.360 that down feather is what sparked the hashtag. So down 110 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:14.120 feather is the insulating part of their body and it's 111 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:18.000 really soft and fluey, and so when you're holding a 112 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.240 kind of baby pelican that just has down feathers, they're 113 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:24.759 pretty fluefy, and I feel very lucky. 114 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:26.600 So you've gotten to hold them. 115 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.879 Yes, So we have a project because Louisiana is losing 116 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:38.480 land at a very rapid rate because it's sinking and 117 00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:44.040 the sea level is rising. So these islands that are 118 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:48.439 perfect habitats for these Pelicans to raise their youngs are 119 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:51.920 actually getting overtopped and just completely disappearing. We don't really 120 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:57.360 understand what happens to pelicans once their islands disappear, because 121 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.639 their instinct is to come back to the same islands 122 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.480 that they were born on. And so what I've been 123 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:08.920 doing is I am putting leg bands on these pelicans 124 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.879 so that future grad students once I'm graduated, are able 125 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.680 to go back and track these bands and hopefully we'll 126 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.439 get a better understanding of where they moved to. 127 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.160 So apparently only thirty percent of Pelicans survive their first 128 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:28.439 year of life. Only two percent make it to age ten, 129 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:32.319 but some some have been known to live until their forties, 130 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.000 so some are out there. There's a gen X Pelican 131 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.480 listening to britpop. But how do they tell who's who? 132 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.079 So my lab does orange bands, and other labs that 133 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.319 study pelicans use different color bands, and these color bands 134 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.360 are really large, so we can see them from really 135 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:50.519 far away without having to disturb the birds. 136 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:55.000 Oh that's nice. When I was looking at baby pelicans 137 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.319 on your Twitter, I myself had an impulse to want 138 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.680 to give them one tiny kiss on their heads. Is 139 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.920 that a normal impulse for a person? 140 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:07.319 I would say yes. 141 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.639 But if you ever come down to Louisiana and come 142 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:13.360 out to the islands with me, I think you will 143 00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:16.160 be satisfied just by holding them, because I will say, 144 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.319 they might be flufy, but they're all so very stinky. 145 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:23.800 So a hug A hug is as far as I 146 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:25.160 usually want to go with it. 147 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:26.120 That's good. 148 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:28.800 I know that it is like, not a good idea 149 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.240 to put my mouth on wildlife. For the wildlife's sake. 150 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.159 Do not put your mouth on wildlife. The wildlife does 151 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:37.879 not want you to. Also, I looked at the fluffs, 152 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.279 and they look like what would come out of the dryer, 153 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.679 like in the lint hatch after washing a load of 154 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:49.240 brand new flufy towels. So picture lintball, but with big, clappy, 155 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:53.120 flappy face parts. But when they're born, they are indeed featherless. 156 00:08:53.399 --> 00:09:00.000 They look like little alive frozen chickens. So cute, so cute. 157 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:01.320 I can't anto it. 158 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.080 And the gular pouch or the purse is so tiny 159 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:05.840 on the babych. 160 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:07.559 Fix and they're just oh my gosh. It gets me 161 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:08.279 every time. 162 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:11.840 When you're talking about doing restoration work to make sure 163 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:14.240 that they have a home that they can come back to, 164 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.879 or that they have habitat that they can inhabit. How 165 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.960 do you do that if you're up against things like 166 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:24.639 sea levels rising and like land sinking. What do you do? 167 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.039 So right now Louisiana's being restored, but not by me. 168 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:32.960 They actually have agencies such as the Coastal Protection and 169 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.679 Restoration Act, and different groups of people that come out 170 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:41.559 here and basically perform something called dredging. So they put 171 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:47.480 in these pipes basically under the ocean level, and what 172 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.720 they do is they pump a bunch of sediments from 173 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.320 the ocean floor onto these islands. 174 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:55.840 WHOA, So we're basically just. 175 00:09:55.960 --> 00:10:00.799 Building land from the ocean floor, just putting it up. 176 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:03.240 And these pipes go for miles. 177 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:07.000 When you are tracking them, I mean, can you see 178 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.120 on a year to year basis any any change or improvement? 179 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.600 Yes, So some islands have been restored and some have not. 180 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.000 And what my research aims to do is to compare 181 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.240 the pelican populations on these two different sets of islands 182 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:29.600 across coastal Louisiana, and our preliminary data is telling us 183 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.519 that there is a larger population on restored island, which 184 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:38.279 means the restoration is working and the billions. 185 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:39.559 Of dollars is not being wasted. 186 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:44.080 Yeah, and we also found that chicks are more likely 187 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.039 to reach that age where they can fly away and 188 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:51.559 fend for themselves on restored islands versus those that are 189 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:56.559 born on unrestored islands, which is really helpful because no 190 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.440 one's actually looked at that yet. 191 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.559 How are their numbers like when? When did they start 192 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:03.919 to maybe take a dip? 193 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:09.159 So by nineteen sixty three, brown pelicans were completely extinct 194 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:10.559 from the state of Louisiana. 195 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:13.120 Yes, due to DDT. 196 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.399 So if they if they keep laying eggs and the 197 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:20.200 eggs keep getting crushed, or if the nest keeps failing, 198 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.360 they'll actually leave the area. 199 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:25.279 That's it. I'm out of here, oh man. 200 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.559 And a brown pelican is the state bird. 201 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.159 So for the state to not have brown pelicans did 202 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:32.159 it really make sense? 203 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:32.759 Yeah? 204 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:39.759 That's so there was this huge push to re establish 205 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.879 the population here and the way that they did it 206 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:48.080 was they actually brought a little over one thousand brown pelican. 207 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:51.440 Chicks from Florida. So for the most part, all of. 208 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.440 The pelicans in Louisiana right now are descendants of the 209 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.559 one thousand or so Florida population. 210 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.559 That is nuts. So they were Louisiana's like, we either 211 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:04.200 have to change the stay bird or we have to 212 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:05.919 get more pelicans in here immediately. 213 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.759 People yes, and they did the ladder, which I'm glad 214 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.559 to say that it was a huge success and it 215 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.240 took a lot of effort and I'm so happy that 216 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.879 everyone involved like did their part. 217 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.360 And right now we're just trying. 218 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.279 To maintain their population and make sure it doesn't like 219 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.559 decrease anymore. And they're doing pretty good right now. Their 220 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:31.039 numbers could be a little bit better. It also depends 221 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:34.399 on the fishery, So if there's less fish, less chicks 222 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:38.120 are likely to survive and therefore their population isn't going 223 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:39.039 to grow as well. 224 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.399 Okay, so what happens if you take a Florida pelican 225 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:44.120 and you move it to Louisiana. What if they don't 226 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.759 like Louisiana's fish menu. Well, Jueta is collabbing with the 227 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:50.840 Nelson Lab at the University of Louisiana to figure out 228 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:53.840 their favorite fish, and it turns out their diet is 229 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.320 ninety eight percent men Hayden, which is a silvery forked 230 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:02.320 tail oily filter feeding fish. Now, men hayden are a 231 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:05.559 staple in a lot of wildlife diets, So protecting this 232 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.279 fish protects the pelicans as well as other sea and 233 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:11.879 air critters that kind of pull up a seat to 234 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:15.120 this feast that is a school of man hayden. How 235 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.480 can they see from this guy? I mean, I realize 236 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.360 they're pelicans, they're very good at this, but like they're 237 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.120 cruising along, right, they have this thing flapping in the wind. 238 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:26.919 Their face is flapping around. I'm picturing it, but it 239 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:28.320 actually gets tucked, right. 240 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:31.759 I don't. I don't know if tucked is the word. 241 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.399 I would it's not. 242 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:41.279 Necessarily like swaying, like I'm picturing it like like a windbreaker. 243 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:43.799 I don't know why, Like I'm trying to picture like 244 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:47.399 what it feels like. Is it like leather or denim 245 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:52.639 or skin? These are questions that one can ask a pelicanologist. 246 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:56.960 What do their bills or the pouch, like what is it? 247 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.039 Do you have you ever touched it, Like, what does 248 00:13:59.080 --> 00:13:59.559 it feel like? 249 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:06.600 It basically feels like saggy skin, like extremely saggy and rigges. 250 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:09.519 And it's really flexible. 251 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:13.919 That seems so cute. In case you ever need to 252 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.320 brag about a pelican, just know that they can dive 253 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.039 bombfish at forty miles an hour and their beaks, which 254 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.799 have been unchanged for like thirty million years, slice the 255 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:28.159 water to handle that speed and that velocity, and that 256 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.440 pouch I read acts like a little parachute underwater to 257 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.399 help slow them down. So essentially they're fighter jets, but 258 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.840 cooler and smellier. And what are their nests like? 259 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:44.200 So their nests they prefer to nest on taller shrubs 260 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:49.159 because Louisiana floods quite often, so if they're on like 261 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:53.159 taller vegetation, the chances of in nest flooding is smaller, 262 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:57.399 and they tend to use sticks. So they're maybe like 263 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:01.720 two and a half feet in diameter, pretty large nests, 264 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.480 maybe a little smaller now I'm trying to think I've 265 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.279 never actually measured of pelican nests, but they're pretty big. 266 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:11.720 We're currently using drones to see we can get accurate 267 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:12.600 nest counts. 268 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:15.320 And you can definitely see the nests from a drone. 269 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:17.559 Oh wow, do you have time? Do you mind getting 270 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:18.559 asked patron questions? 271 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.759 Oh? Mash yeah, bring Maddie. I'm so excited. 272 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.240 Okay, so before we get to your questions, a few 273 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.639 words about sponsors who make it possible for ologies to 274 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:29.320 donate to a cause of the ologist choosing each week, 275 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:31.679 and this week, Jimina and all the folks at Black 276 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:35.559 af and Stem decided on Backyard Basecamp dot org, which 277 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.320 is inspiring black, Indigenous and all people of color across 278 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.840 Baltimore City to find nature where they are and empowering 279 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:46.840 them to explore further. Backyard base Camp also offers garden 280 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:51.600 consultations and educator training and habitat discovery programs and more. 281 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.399 They are awesome, so check them out and consider donating. 282 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.320 That is backyard base Camp dot org. And that donation 283 00:15:57.399 --> 00:15:59.600 to them was made possible by sponsors of the show, 284 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.679 who you may hear about. Now, Okay, your plate questions. 285 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.200 There's a lot of Pelican questions. Okay, this is a 286 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:11.240 question that I think I got the most. Elle McCall 287 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.320 put it, well, the spine thing out of their throats. 288 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.559 Please tell us everything and Evan Jude and Angela Menuhel 289 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.080 and will play with said yes please, yes, yes, I'm 290 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.440 dying to know what's happening with their spine out of 291 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:24.000 their throats. 292 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:26.080 Oh my gosh, I totally saw that. 293 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:33.399 So it's only like part of their it's like basically 294 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:36.960 their neck vertebrae. So when they're doing that, they're actually 295 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:44.279 just yawning, yeah, yawning slash stretching. So while I'm taking 296 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.360 my camera chat photosm that actually. 297 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.759 Happens all the time. Really, I recorded in my data 298 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.200 sheet as yawning. 299 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.000 Oh my god, what other what other things are in 300 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.039 your data sheet like like yawning, like eye rolling, farting, 301 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.639 Like what do you have to do to shot down? 302 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:06.640 I basically write down any and all behavior that I see, 303 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:10.119 so everything from feeding. You can actually tell when a 304 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.319 pelican chick is being fed because they're going to feed 305 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:17.599 straight out of the pouch. So the baby chick's head 306 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:24.759 is in the parents' big pouch basically picking out fish. 307 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.920 And one more thing on that vertebrae coming out of 308 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:32.640 the neck. It's actually just their neck showing through the 309 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:35.319 bottom of their pouch when they yawner when they sit weird, 310 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.400 but essentially, No, their spine isn't coming out of their neck. 311 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:41.240 It's just kind of like pushing through the bottom of 312 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:43.079 their pouch normal. 313 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.240 Something else I record is if there is any neighborly 314 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.799 conducts happening, so they'll sometimes bicker with one another. 315 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:53.680 David's stop acting like a disgruntled pelican. 316 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.680 They're pretty territorial over their one little nest spot. 317 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.079 Okay, I looked up video of this. Sometimes these little 318 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:05.400 dinosaur flufs use their long bills to bite each other's bills, 319 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:08.079 and it sounds like clacking a bunch of rulers together, 320 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.319 but it looks like when my sisters and I would 321 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.799 fight over baretts. Diane Pete wants to know do pelicans 322 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.640 chew their food or do they just swallow it? And 323 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.440 what's the largest prey a pelican can eat or is 324 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.799 it mostly about like eating a bunch of jelly beans 325 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.240 at once instead of eating like a whole cowzone. 326 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.400 So they just do one big, big gulp. I'm sure 327 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:32.359 if there's multiple fish in their pouch, though, they'll probably 328 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.400 do a few big gulf. They don't chew on anything, 329 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:37.720 so it's whole fish that they are swallowing and regurgitating 330 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.400 for their young to eat. 331 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:42.720 Do they regurgitate it? Is it like a slurry? 332 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.039 No, it's actually a whole fish. 333 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:49.599 Oh yeah, dang, Okay, I thought it. I was for sure. 334 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:51.480 I thought that was gonna be like a fish smoothie. 335 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:53.799 But it's just like bloop, just like taking a granola 336 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.400 bar right out of your own stomach. 337 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:57.480 Yeah, basically. 338 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.000 This next one was asked by my pal Greg Wallach 339 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.119 and Megan Walker, William Andrews, and Laura Merriman, who referenced 340 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.839 the nineteen ten limerick by Dixon Linear Merit, an ornithology 341 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.880 enthusiast and a professional humorist. The limericks, so goes a 342 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:14.799 wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill will hold more 343 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.680 than his pelican. He can take in his beak enough 344 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:22.480 food for a week. So bill versus gastric capacity. Can 345 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:27.319 a pelican's beak hold more than its pelican belly can? 346 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.240 Yes, we used to tell that to our fifth and 347 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.680 sixth graders when I was a naturalist back in the day. 348 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.279 So it's beak can actually hold more than is belly 349 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.079 can if you're counting the water volume. 350 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.000 Oh yeat, and then it just squirts it out and 351 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:44.160 then it keeps the fish. 352 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:46.799 Yes, thanks a good que remember it. 353 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.440 Thomas N. Wyndham wants to know if Pelican chicks toss 354 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.559 their siblings out of the nest. 355 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:56.359 Not usually, I have never seen them in my cameras, 356 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:00.920 but there is sibling rivalry in the sense that if 357 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.839 there is not enough food to go around, the youngest 358 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:06.920 chick tends to not get fed. 359 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:10.359 Oh okay, yeah, so the order and. 360 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.039 That they were born is the order in which the 361 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:13.839 parents will generally feed them. 362 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:18.440 They can remember, But are are they like ten hours apart, 363 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.519 like like how soon they hatch? Kind of It's more 364 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:25.200 like a day or so, okay. And it's not that 365 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:28.759 the parents remember. It's more that the older chicks are louder. 366 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.200 They're more willing to like shove their siblings out of 367 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:33.079 the way, like get to the parents first. 368 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.920 Oh okay, Megan Walker. How tough are their insides? And 369 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.599 do the fish die right away? It seems like a 370 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:42.680 fresh floppy fish would do some damage to the insides. 371 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.240 So, I mean, just like our stomachs, their stomachs have 372 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.880 pretty high acid content. 373 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:53.839 I'm not sure how fast the fish actually. 374 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.240 Is like stop moving inside there, but I would assume 375 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:58.319 it's pretty fast. 376 00:20:59.240 --> 00:20:59.519 Yeah. 377 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.720 I look this up and apparently it's pretty acidic in there, 378 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.079 and fish are not long for this world. Once in 379 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.200 a bird belly. Ronan last question says, the brown pelican 380 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:13.079 is my mom's favorite bird, which is amazing, And I 381 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.640 asked her if she has a question, And so Ronan's 382 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:18.960 mom wants to know. So do pelicans migrate or do 383 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.039 they live in the same temperate location year round? 384 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:27.240 So in Louisiana, we do have brown pelicans that hang 385 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:31.039 around all year, but some of them actually do travel 386 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:32.799 down to Central America. 387 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:35.119 Ooh, and that's wintertime. 388 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:39.920 Yes, so outside of February through like August, they can 389 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:40.720 be somewhere else. 390 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.880 I love the idea that they're just like little snowbirds, 391 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.480 just having some fun. Some of they're on vacation, they 392 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:48.519 just have a time share. 393 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.279 I'm also jealous they get to leave, but I'm stuck 394 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:54.960 in cold Louisiana. 395 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.599 And you're just like waiting for them to come to back. 396 00:21:55.759 --> 00:22:00.759 Yes, that's literally my life. Like, actually, what about. 397 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.079 Your favorite thing about pelicans or your work? 398 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:07.880 The fact that I get to be so close to 399 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.920 these birds is wild because very few people get that 400 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:19.160 opportunity and being surrounded by ten thousand nesting birds, specifically pelicans. 401 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:24.920