Juvenile Brown Pelicans have brown heads and white underparts. Adults have white heads and brown underparts. Here's a photo showing you an adult and a juvenile, taken by Craig Tooley.
On Thursday Rick and I were walking the bluffs at Gualala Point Regional Park. We saw a few Brown Pelicans on the water, accompanied by an opportunistic Western Gull. Then another Brown Pelican approached. We fantasized we could hear it shout, "I'm coming in, I'm coming in!"
They sure are graceful flyers but they don't have the most controlled landing. Here it's saying, "Brakes! Brakes!"
Brown Pelicans plunge dive for fish. Here is one of my favorite photos showing plunge diving. It was taken by Patrick Killen.
Thanks to Craig and Patrick for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com