Living in Florida, we have all seen pelicans at some point. These fun facts will help you understand flying and diving neighbor even better:

• The Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana
• Pelicans can be found on all continents except Antarctica
• In medieval Europe, the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the point of providing her own blood when no other food was available. As a result, the pelican became a symbol of the Passion of Jesus and of the Eucharist as was displayed in churches.
• The Brown Pelican can fly up to 30 mph
• Most fossil species of pelican are placed in the same genus as the modern pelican due to extreme anatomical similarities. This suggests that the present form of pelican has changed very little over the past 30-40 million years.
• Unlike most birds, which warm their eggs with the skin of their breasts, pelicans incubate their eggs with their feet. They hold the eggs under the webs that stretch from the front toes to the hind toe, essentially standing on the eggs to warm them.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE A BANDED PELICAN
Bird banding is a very important tool in researching and managing the pelican population. The individual identification of each bird allows researchers to study dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, life-span and survival rate, reproductive success and population growth. Banding begins with the capture of the bird by an experienced researcher. Once the bird is captured one of many types of bands are carefully placed on the bird; the band usually has an ID number on it. You can find out about the different types of bands by going to the links section.

If you see a banded pelican you can submit an electronic report of your sighting by going to the North American Bird Banding Program site with can be found in our links section. If you cannot submit the electronic report you can call 1-800-327-BAND (2263). You will need to know the band number, how, when, and where the bird or band was found.

Resources for this article provided by Wikipedia and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.