Pelicans | Pelecanidae

Pelikanen | Pelícanos

All four toes are joined by webbing — heavy birds on short legs that swim exceptionally well. Slung under the lower mandible is an elastic pouch, not a larder but a dip net: the head goes under, the water drains away along the edges of the bill and the fish is swallowed at once, and in shallows groups drive fish together to do it. Air sacs beneath the skin keep the body riding high, and on very long broad wings they soar up on thermals and travel in formation. They breed packed close together in colonies, lay two or three chalky white eggs that are incubated on top of the webbed feet, and the young hatch naked.