The Brown Pelican: one of the most common birds in the coasts of Cuba

By Greisis Rodríguez  Porro

In Cuba 371 species of birds have been described, which are divided in two big groups, the first one, the aquatic birds and the second one, the terrestrial birds.

In the first group diverse species are included with varied forms and characteristic, such as the Double-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), the ducks, the herons, the gull, the Clapper Rail, and the Pelican or Brown Pelican.

The Brown Pelican is one of the biggest and common birds in our beaches, bays and coasts, it is sea birds, with a wide distribution in the whole American continent and it eats diverse species of fishes that often congregate in big shoals.

The way of capturing the fish is an entire show that we like to contemplate, because this species appeals to a spectacular dive to get its preys, and with regard to its way of feeding, for what reason do you consider that the striking bag that the pelican has in its throat serves?

In spite of the widespread belief that this bag is place to store fishes, this is rather an adaptation to capture them because the caught fish are ingested immediately although it doesn’t seem that it is this way.

According to investigations carried out by the biologist Omilkar Barrios the bag of the Brown Pelican is also used to dissipate the heat due to its intense sanguine irrigation and as part of the behavior of the couple attraction during the reproductive time, that is to say that this bag completes an important role in the feeding, the temperature regulation of the body, and in the reproduction.

There are 6 species in the world, two of them only inhabit in the American continent and are present in Cuba, and these sea birds are the Brown Pelican and the White Pelican; that’s why it is necessary that we contribute then to the protection and conservation of this species.