Down in Jungleland: The pelican brief

And when they do, they instantly turn from clowns to the epitome of flying grace. They’ll gain height, circling as they do and arrange themselves in great classic V formations — scores of black and white crosses against the blue — and head off in the direction they want. Their landing can be equally marvellous to watch. They’ll circle down, losing height, aligning themselves, and then just before touchdown, extend those great rubbery webbed feet and splash down, folding their wings neatly as they bob around. On small water-bodies, if they misjudge their approach, they will, like all sensible pilots, regain height and do a go-around.

I used to time my visits to the Delhi zoo, with the pelicans’ take-off schedule: in those days, estimated time of departure was around 10 am during winter, so happily, they were not fans of the red-eye flights. There was a touch of pathos too, because some of the pelicans in the zoo flock were pinioned birds, which couldn’t fly. These would splash around in frustrated circles, while their more fortunate compatriots took to the skies and vanished. Possibly, the birds that remained served as a sort of beacon for the others on their return — they spotted them and concluded that it was a “safe haven” for them to come back to.

They’re heavy birds — gentlemen great white pelicans can tip the scales at between 11 and 15 kg, but they’re brilliantly engineered for flight: their skeleton may weigh under just 700 gm! Wingspan may stretch to over 3 m. They use the V-formation to take advantage of uplifting air currents developed by the wash of the bird flying ahead, and can glide on motionless wings for hours as they catch the thermals. Non-stop flights have covered as much as 450 km.

They are avid fishermen and fish form the major component of their diet, though they’re not averse to baby birds, eggs and small invertebrates. They fish communally too — a group of a dozen or so will form a horseshoe in shallow waters, beat the hell out of the water with their wings rather like washermen beating clothes, as they head shore-wards, scooping up all the fish they have managed to panic and herd together. The elastic pouches then contract, removing the water (as much as 11.5 liters) but retaining the fish which, is swallowed whole. The brown pelicans of the Americas dive-bomb their prey and plunge headfirst into the water like a deadly missile.

Pelican babies will enthusiastically stuff their entire heads inside their parents’ shopping bags to see what goodies have been brought back for them! And if you dare give them the frights, they will be gloriously and flamboyantly sick all over you — with stinky semi-digested fish!

Three species of pelicans are found in India, out of six in the world. The Great White alias rosy (during the breeding season it has a pale rosy wash to its plumage) pelican breeds in spring and early summer in the Great Rann of Kutch, and so, is part-resident and part-migrant as it explores shallow fresh water-bodies elsewhere in the country in winter. Nests are 1 sq m scrapes in the ground, which the birds feather themselves, and usually two glossy white eggs are laid. Babies can get fat and ugly and will dodder around in gangs if they feel threatened.

The Spot-billed or Grey pelican, also found throughout India, breeds between November and April. It nests in cheek-by-jowl twiggy edifices, constructed low-down in trees alongside colonies of herons and cormorants. It is grey or greyish white, and that absurd little crest is brownish.

The third of the trio is the Dalmatian pelican, which is rather like the great white (and so difficult to positively identify when it’s flying at 1,000 feet) except it has grey rather than pink legs and a concave crescent of white feathers on its forehead. The underside of its wings is dusky white.

Since we believe that every single fish everywhere belongs exclusively to us, we hold a grudge against pelicans for their proclivity towards fishing. They can go through rather a lot of fish (in excess of a kilo a day per bird), but it’s miniscule as compared to what we waste, let alone catch. Pollution and habitat destruction are other problems affecting these amiable birds, which may live for more than 50 years. In many cities around the world, they have been semi-tamed and kept at parks and gardens and will follow you around wanting to have their bags filled!

And if you’ve just been to the cold-storage or fish-market, you’ll know what to do with that smoked salmon you’re trying to hide…

Ranjit Lal is an author, environmentalist and birdwatcher