Pelican Flying at Sunset in Florida Postcard

"Pelican Flying at Sunset in Florida" by Catherine Sherman. A brown pelican swoops over Fort Myers Beach, Florida at sunset. The brown pelican's habitat is the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of North and South America Although the Brown Pelican is the smallest of the world's eight pelican species, it's still a big bird at four feet long (including the bill) with a seven- to eight-foot wingspan, according to the American Bird Conservancy (abcbirds.org). Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are primarily fish-eaters and require up to four pounds of fish a day. They feed by using their keen eyesight to spot underwater prey from the air then plunge-diving from heights of up to 70 feet. The force of their impact stuns small fish, enabling the birds to scoop up the prey in their throat pouches.