Brown Pelican in flight
Pelecanus occidentalis
Brown Pelican · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A Brown Pelican flying low over the water off La Jolla, in a line with the others, an inch above the swell. This is the pelican of the American coasts, from here round to the Carolinas, and it spends its days patrolling the surf line for fish.
Pelicans fly this low to ride the cushion of compressed air that forms just above the surface under each wing - ground effect, the same principle that lets a jet burn less fuel a few feet off a runway. It costs them noticeably less energy than flying higher, which is why a foraging line of pelicans so rarely climbs.
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