The Pelicans at Lake Inverell

Welcome back  after the holiday break for yet another podcast on Lake Inverell’s Fauna. Today we are going to talk about the Pelican’s who are visitors to Lake Inverell and presently we are seeing flocks of up to 40 and 50 birds, a really welcomed sight after the crippling drought and bushfires of previous years where we hardly had any pelicans at the lake anymore.

The Australian pelican is a large waterbird widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand.

Our pelican’s as we know them from Lake Inverell are predominantly white birds with black wings and a pink bill. The pelican has been credited with having the longest bill of any living bird. It mainly eats fish, but will also consume birds and scavenge for scraps if the opportunity arises.

The Australian pelican is medium-sized by pelican standards, with a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.6 m. Weight can range from 4 to 13 kg, although most of these pelicans weigh between 4.54 and 7.7 kg. The average weight of  Australian pelicans is about 5.5 kg, making this the heaviest Australian flying bird species on average. The pale, pinkish bill is enormous, even by pelican standards, and is the largest bill in the avian world. Females are slightly smaller with a notably smaller bill, which can measure as small as 34.6 cm  at maturity. The total length is boosted by the bill to 152–188 cm. It has the largest bill of any bird.

Enjoy todays podcast with our host Heinrich Haussler and our resident Ecologist Wendy Hawes. Today the 24th of February 2021 is also Wendy's Birthday. So I may take this opportunity and also wish Wendy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and say a very big THANK YOU for the wonderful work she does.