Hmmm... What Do We Have Here?

American White Pelicans!  In Yellowstone?  Why did I think they were birds that only hang out at the ocean?  (Sigh.)

Once again, what I thought I knew wasn't all there was to know!   Pelicans are found on the coast and at inland waters.


People have tried to get rid of them thinking the pelican eats the fish we want - when in fact they don't (much.)  On Dyer Island in South Africa they also tried to get rid of the pelicans because the pelican doesn't get along with some guano producing birds. (You do know what guano is, don't you?  Bird poop.  It's a very valuable fertilizer.  Imagine being exterminated because you cheat someone out of their fair share of guano...)

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His bill will hold more than his belican,

He can take in his beak

Food enough for a week,

But I'm (darned) if I see how the helican.

-- a 1920 Limerick by Dixon Lanier Merritt