Pelicans are common over most of Australia, especially here on the Sunshine Coast. If you are anywhere near the sea, you will encounter these majestic birds.
Generally it is a bad idea to feed pelicans but hey, I’d be lying if I said I had never thrown them some leftover bait. This emboldens them but unlike crows and gulls, they don’t seem to get aggressive about it; from what I can tell, pelicans are pretty laid back. Of course your experience may vary, don’t blame me if one goes berserk trying to get to your fish and chips.
Today I was told a horror story of what can happen when you stand under a pelican and though it sounds hilarious, there is nothing funny about a pound of pelican crap hitting you in the back of your head. So always, and I mean always, make sure you aren’t standing under a perching pelican. They love light posts and bridge supports so be careful.
Pelicans have also been known to try to steal hooked fish. This is bad for the pelican of course so you need to be careful about what you are doing with pelicans in sight. Hooks and fishing line do not play nice with birds so if you are fishing, use some common sense.
One cool thing about pelicans is that they are quite photogenic and often seemingly unafraid of humans so you can easily get good photos of them. The photo I used for this article was taken about 500 meters from here and he just sort of sat there looking goofy as I got closer and closer, no fear at all. He’s probably still sitting there.