When I first witnessed this behavior I thought the Pelicans where trying to eat the Cormorant.
Action was fast, finally I was able to see what the Pelican wanted, the Cormorant's Tilapia
Tastes Like Chicken
When I first witnessed this behavior I thought the Pelicans where trying to eat the Cormorant.
Action was fast, finally I was able to see what the Pelican wanted, the Cormorant's Tilapia
Great catch on your part and it looks like the pelican may have done OK too!
Hi James- Excellent capture!
At the risk of sounding like a boring academic, stealing food like this is called "kleptoparasitism" = "parasitism by theft". Many species show this behaviour in one form or another but almost none completely rely on it to obtain food. Frigatebirds, which were once thought to be related to pelicans, do a lot of kleptoparasitism but careful study shows that even they only obtain about 50% of their food that way. Kleptoparasitism does not necessarily involve food. Many colonial species steal nest material in the form of stones, grass, seaweed etc, from each other.
WOW, thanks for the image..... what a catch, for you and the Pelican, poor Cormorant (I like them) will have recurring dreams of being chased by something huge and being swallowed whole.
and John thank you for the lesson, you don't sound like boring academic.... to this desert gal it's very educational and interesting to see these things.
Now.... Did he get the Tilapia???
John,
Kleptoparasitism - what a great word! Gulls waiting for the peeps to pull up sand crabs, then chasing after them comes to mind.
Capt. James,
So, do tell, who ended up with the fish? Thanks for posting this great action shot.
Cheers,
-Michael-
The Pelican!Originally Posted by Michael Gerald-Yamasaki
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