Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Frigid survival: how American white pelicans overwinter in the cold
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Frigid survival: how American white pelicans overwinter in the cold
They’re like a flurry of snow in the Montana summer. American white pelicans breed among the prairies, deserts, and forests of the western North American interior, from California and Colorado to Alberta and Manitoba. Across this diverse geographical expanse, they nest in dense colonies, choosing islands within certain marshes or lakes that provide some protection from predators. The nests, often spaced just a few feet apart, can number a thousand or more in a colony.
None of this is out of the ordinary. It’s just the wonderful, striking yearly rhythm of our American white pelicans, these flamboyant fishers of inland marsh and ocean coast. But what is out of the ordinary is to find a pelican – this social bird of the Montana summer – somehow surviving an inland winter among the ice.
View all episodes
By Shane SaterThey’re like a flurry of snow in the Montana summer. American white pelicans breed among the prairies, deserts, and forests of the western North American interior, from California and Colorado to Alberta and Manitoba. Across this diverse geographical expanse, they nest in dense colonies, choosing islands within certain marshes or lakes that provide some protection from predators. The nests, often spaced just a few feet apart, can number a thousand or more in a colony.
None of this is out of the ordinary. It’s just the wonderful, striking yearly rhythm of our American white pelicans, these flamboyant fishers of inland marsh and ocean coast. But what is out of the ordinary is to find a pelican – this social bird of the Montana summer – somehow surviving an inland winter among the ice.