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The Pelican Wildlife Study displays 100 images of Brown, White and Pink-Backed Pelicans, including takeoffs, flight shots, portraits, and behavioral shots taken in California and Florida.
The Brown Pelican is shown in both Breeding and Non-Breeding plumage (more images of the Brown Pelican are in the Florida section). The White Pelican is shown in great detail, with a large number of images showing flight, takeoffs and landings, herding fish, and just being a pelican in all sorts of light. I have added images of Pink-Backed Pelicans, with some detail shots.
Click an image to open a larger version. Use your back button to return to this page.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Brown Pelican
Unlike most other Pelicans, the Brown Pelican (and the similar Peruvian Pelican) feed by diving on their prey. The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the Pelicans, and like the White Pelican it is gregarious, living in flocks. Below are portraits and composites of Brown Pelicans in breeding and non-breeding plumage and hunting.
Brown Pelican 3653
A Brown Pelican Juvenile, taken in January at Bolsa Chica Refuge.
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Brown Pelican 3596
A Brown Pelican Juvenile at Bolsa Chica Refuge, with the typical mottled brown plumage.
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Brown Pelican Non-Breeding 0502 M
A Brown Pelican displaying post-Breeding Plumage in November.
In their breeding plumage, their bill and pouch are redder, the head becomes a creamy yellow, and the iris turns bluish-white. The neck is dark brown before breeding, but after breeding the neck turns white.
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Brown Pelican Non-Breeding 0501c
A detail crop of a Brown Pelican in post-breeding plumage.
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Brown Pelican Non-Breeding 0518c
A detail crop of a post-breeding Brown Pelican taking off.
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Brown Pelican Breeding Plumage 3571
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Brown Pelican Breeding Plumage 3572
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A Brown Pelican in Breeding plumage, preening at the edge of the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica. Note the dark brown neck and the brilliant red of the gular pouch and edges at the tip of the bill.
Brown Pelican Breeding Plumage 3575 M
After preening, there is nothing like a good stretch, which also shows the brilliant red pouch and bill edges.
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Brown Pelican Gular Pouch 3611
The gular pouch of a juvenile Brown Pelican, backlit by the sun. A Brown Pelican pouch can hold three gallons of fish and water.
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Brown Pelicans 3558
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Brown Pelicans 3559
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Preening is a popular activity, as can be seen in the two images above which show an adult in Breeding plumage and three juveniles alongside the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica.
Brown Pelican Juvenile Stretching 3564c
A detail crop of one of the juveniles taking a good post-preening stretch.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Brown Pelican Flight X0045
A non-breeding adult Brown Pelican in flight over the Main Canal at Bolsa Chica in April.
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Brown Pelican 0565
A Brown Pelican in Breeding plumage, shot at sunrise in late November on Sanibel Island, Florida.
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Brown Pelican Dive HS5709
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Brown Pelican Dive HS5714
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Two hunting dive shots from the composite images shown below, taken at Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.
Unlike most other Pelicans which herd fish from the surface and then scoop them up while swimming, Brown Pelicans (and similar Peruvian Pelicans) spot schools of fish from above, then dive on them, opening their bill to catch the fish in their huge pouch. They keep the fish in sight by turning over in flight just before they hit the water, so the bird often enters the water sideways or upside down.
Brown Pelican Dive XL
A 1029 x 1200 version of the XL composite (2464 x 2874) showing a Brown Pelican plunging into a canal at Bolsa Chica Refuge in a hunting dive just before sunset in late May.
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Brown Pelican Hunting XXL
A 1500 x 1276 version of the XXL Composite (4938 x 4200) showing a Brown Pelican plunging into a canal at Bolsa Chica Refuge in a hunting dive just before sunset in late May.
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Brown Pelican Hunting Dive 3623, 25, 26
A 1500 x 640 composite of a Brown Pelican hunting dive sequence from Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.
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Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise 1335-37 M
A 1500 x 1223 composite image of a Brown Pelican hunting dive at sunrise off Sanibel Island, Florida.
More images of Brown Pelicans are in the Bolsa Chica and Florida Wildlife sections.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9681
A juvenile Brown Pelican in flight over Ballona Creek in the late afternoon in July.
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9686
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9772
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Two juvenile Brown Pelicans in flight, taken head-on over Ballona Creek.
The closing speed of a Brown Pelican can be quite fast, and it is exceptionally difficult to capture a sharp head-on image in flight as the bird often flies through the depth of field of a telephoto lens.
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9797
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9799
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A juvenile Brown Pelican in somewhat ragged summer plumage, captured as it passed directly overhead.
Brown Pelican Flight HS9798 M
Unlike the typical grayish color of the gular pouch in non-breeding plumage, this bird has a yellowish pouch.
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9846
A Brown Pelican (with the typical grayish gular pouch) on a head-on approach at Ballona Creek.
Below are several images of this bird in a flight study sequence. The image above was left out of the Flight Study Composite, but along with the images in the composite, it is available separately.
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9847
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9848
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Several wing positions of this Brown Pelican as it transitions from soaring flight to make a shallow turn following Ballona Creek. The Pelican’s wings are so efficient that it does not need to flap much.
Brown Pelican Flight HS9849
A Brown Pelican with its wings in soaring position as it begins a shallow turn past the photographer.
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9850
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Brown Pelican Flight HS9851
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These images show superb detail of the underwing coverts and the primary and secondary feathers.
Brown Pelican Flight HS9857 M
A juvenile Brown Pelican displays its wing detail as it flies past the photographer at Ballona Creek.
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Brown Pelican Flight Study XXL
A 3000 x 440 version of the XXL Flight Study Composite (14000 x 1750) showing the Brown Pelican displayed in the previous image as he makes a slow left turn past the photographer at Ballona Creek.
The XXL Composite makes a spectacular 5 to 6 ft. wide panoramic print. (Each of the images in this flight sequence are also available separately.)
Brown Pelicans can easily fly through the depth of field of a long telephoto lens, as the closing speed can be high. Unless you maintain a focus lock where the wing meets the sky, the lack of contrast on the body and head makes it difficult to track focus, and maintaining a focus lock through a sequence is rare.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Pelicans Herding Fish 0520
A 1600 x 700 panorama crop of White Pelicans herding fish, taken on an overcast December morning at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
White Pelicans cooperate to herd fish in shallow water, and are often seen with Double-Crested Cormorants.
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Pelican Flight 0330
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Pelican Flight 0527
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White Pelicans in flight at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
The American White Pelican (along with the Trumpeter Swan) is one of the largest birds in North America, with the second longest wingspan after the California Condor. It uses its broad 9-10 ft. wings to soar in flight.
Pelican Landing 0270
White Pelicans can be extremely challenging to shoot around mid-day when the skies are clear due to the bright reflections off their feathers. The reduced contrast and softer reflections of overcast days allow for better examination of feather detail when shots are taken at mid-day.
White Pelicans are a lot easier to shoot on cloudy days too. Further below, you’ll see a number of shots taken on a clear day at noon... the difficulties will be immediately apparent.
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Pelican Landing 0229
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Pelican 0324
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Posing Pelicans at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
Like all Pelicans, the White Pelican has an enormously long bill with a gular pouch below the bill which the Pelican uses to store caught fish (it spills water from the pouch before swallowing its catch). Pelicans eat up to three lbs. of fish a day, and only carry food in their pouch when delivering it to their chick.
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Pelican 0311
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Pelican 0216
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White Pelicans are among the heaviest flying birds in the world, weighing from 9 to 30 pounds. Pelicans are very clumsy on land, but they are excellent swimmers and are quite graceful in the air.
White Pelicans Mating Season 2541
This image taken at Big Bear Lake in the Southern California mountains shows White Pelicans with the horn on the bill which they display during mating season.
White Pelicans are the only one of the eight species of Pelican to have a horn on their bill.
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Pelican Flight 0916
A White Pelican soars over Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in the early afternoon in mid-November. Notice that the projection or horn on the bill (the nuptial tubercle) is beginning to grow.
Pelicans can be tricky to get a focus lock on in the sky because the normal way of focusing on the wing root or head does not work since there is so little contrast. The best way is to focus on the leading edge of a wing or on the bill. The bill is best as it will put the head in the focused plane regardless of the aperture selected.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Pelican HS6791
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Pelican HS6795
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Shot late in the afternoon at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge. Notice how dark the water appears in these shots. The water is dark because of the exposure compensation which is required to properly expose the white bird.
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Pelican Takeoff 0134
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Pelican Takeoff 0135
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A White Pelican takeoff, taken in the late morning on a clear day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge. Achieving proper exposure of a White Pelican under these conditions can be quite challenging.
These two images are part of a takeoff sequence which is shown in the composite image below.
White Pelican Takeoff SXXL
A 1500 x 708 version of the SXXL Composite (7412 x 3500) showing a White Pelican taking off past a swimming Cormorant in the late morning at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in Los Angeles.
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Pelican Takeoff 0151
This takeoff is without a doubt among the most challenging sorts of action sequences possible. The bird is going from areas of dark background to midtone backgrounds and back again, and the subject is bright white in the morning sunlight.
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Pelican Takeoff 0157
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Pelican Takeoff 0158
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A White Pelican hops across the surface of the pond to gain speed as it takes off in the late morning.
Pelican Takeoff 0160
The only way to avoid overexposing the bird is to know beforehand what the proper exposure for the bird will be, then manually select the aperture necessary to get the look you want for the sequence and a shutter speed which will achieve the correct exposure at that aperture. This avoids having the meter alter the exposure as the bird occludes a darker or lighter background.
It is possible to spot-meter the bird, but if the metering reticle hits a shadowed area or an area lighter than the one you used to set the exposure compensation, the sequence will be ruined. It is far better to pre-meter the subject and use the manual mode.
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White Pelican Takeoff Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge SXXL
A 1744 x 1200 version of the SXXL Composite (7412 x 5100) showing a White Pelican taking off in the late morning at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Pelicans Herding Fish 1276
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Pelicans Herding Fish 1279
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A group of White Pelicans fly low over the surface of the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge, dragging their feet and tails to herd fish into the shallows in a cooperative feeding technique.
Pelicans Herding Fish 1288
White Pelicans use this cooperative technique to herd fish into a tight ball, then they surface dive on the ball to grab as many fish as possible before they disperse.
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Pelicans Herding Fish 1289
They fly close to the water and drag their feet, run or hop, splashing the surface to scare the fish.
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Pelicans Herding Fish 1292
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Pelicans Herding Fish 1295
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Pelican Herding Fish 1317
These shots were all taken at mid-day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in late November.
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Galloping Pelican 1381
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Pelican Landing 1387
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Pelican Landing 1394
When the Pelicans land, they stick their feet in front of them and water-ski, scooping air with their wings and dragging their tail in the water to slow down.
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White Pelican 0262
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White Pelican 0263
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A White Pelican landing at the edge of the Gulf waters off Sanibel Island, Florida in late November.
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White Pelican 0266
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White Pelican 0269
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Pelican Landing
A 1505 x 1425 composite of a White Pelican landing at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Pelican head-on
A 1000 x 1364 composite of White Pelicans in head-on flight at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge. The upper shot was taken at mid-day in November, and the lower one at sunset in January.
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Pelican Head-on 0247, 0248
Note the subtle adjustments of the primary feathers and the head and neck movements which the White Pelican uses to compensate for the shifting wind.
You may want to right click to open this image in a new (non-expanded) window. If you adjust the window height to fit the upper image height, you can use the Page Down and Page Up keys on your keyboard to switch from the upper to lower image. You will be able to see the head, neck, shoulder and feather movements more easily.
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Pelican Flight 0268
A White Pelican in soaring flight on an overcast day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in December.
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Pelican Flight 0938
A White Pelican in flight on a clear day at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.
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White Pelican Sunset X5633
A White Pelican flies into the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge at sunset in mid-September.
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Pelicans Sunset Landing X5629
White Pelicans landing in formation at sunset.
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White Pelican Sunset X5634
Buzzing the tower before landing...
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Pelican Landing X5551
White Pelicans landing in the late afternoon in September at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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White Pelicans Landing X5554
A group of their colleagues stand by to provide commentary on the landing technique.
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White Pelicans X5556
Pelicans generally prefer to land on water, but this fellow dropped right in on a prime piece of real estate.
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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White Pelicans X5483
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White Pelicans X5484
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A White Pelican enters the water off the island in the middle of the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
White Pelican Yawn X5162-5166
Pelicans and Cormorants stand on the island to socialize and evaluate landing techniques of birds who want to join them. One bird seems bored. With a bill this massive, you had to know that a yawn would be impressive. In the sequence above, a White Pelican puts all of his energy into a yawn.
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White Pelican Yawn X5167
The yawning Pelican looks like a cartoon with his bill extended straight up.
White Pelicans and Double-Crested Cormorants can often be seen together.
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White Pelican X5373
A White Pelican poses for a late afternoon portrait at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in September.
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White Pelicans X5514
White Pelicans in the late afternoon at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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White Pelicans X5565
A group of White Pelicans patrolling back and forth across the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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White Pelican Sunset X5608
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White Pelican Sunset X5617
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A White Pelican swimming on the pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in the low-angle light near sunset.
White Pelican Sunset X5611
A White Pelican in the dappled golden light of sunset at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
Achieving an exposure which properly captures the light without overexposing the highlights and losing feather detail or underexposing and losing color saturation can be quite challenging.
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Pelican Cormorants X7573
A White Pelican swims into the sunset with Cormorants at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.
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White Pelican at Sunset X7575
A detail crop of a White Pelican at Sunset (resized from the master image).
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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Pink-Backed Pelican
The Pink-Backed Pelican is smaller than the White or Brown Pelicans, and prefers shallow water to the ocean. They typically reside in lakes and swamps of Africa and southern Arabia.
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Pink-Backed Pelican 4892
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Pink-Backed Pelicans 4912
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Pink-Backed Pelican HS1646
The Pink-Backed Pelican has a pink, mauve, cream and brown color scheme and a yellow tip on its bill.
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Pink-Backed Pelican 5092
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Pink-Backed Pelican HS3677
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Pink-Backed Pelican HS3641
Note the large, webbed feet of the Pink-Backed Pelican.
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Pink-Backed Pelican HS3633
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Pink-Backed Pelican HS3630 (detail)
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Pink-Backed Pelican X1518
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Pink-Backed Pelican X1518 (detail)
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Images in this section are in two different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Pelicans Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Brown Pelican White Pelican
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