DID YOU KNOW?
Educational information
Did you Know Pelicans can't breath through their nares?
If you ever come across a Pelican in need of rescue DO NOT tape their beaks. Although they have nares (nostrils) they don't breath out of them. They predominantly breath through their open beaks. Their nares are walled off by desalinizing glands. These glands filter excess salt from the seawater and purify their bloodstream.
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Did you know Poison kills everything in a food chain?
When trying to eliminate pests poison is unfortunately often used. When a mouse or rat eat poisoned food their predators such as hawks, vultures, etc, eat them. Then cats, racoons, fox, etc eat them.
Did you know you shouldn't feed some edibles to birds?
It's fun to feed the birds. The problem is the birds become dependent on humans to feed them, they loose their instinct to hunt or scavenge for food. When humans leave the area, like what happens here at the coast during the winter, the birds are left to fend for themselves.
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Feeding pelicans a fish carcass and hardhead catfish is dangerous! The bones and barbs on the fishes fin get stuck in the peli's pouch and throat causing them the choke and can also puncture their pouch and throat.
Feeding ducks, geese and other water fowl bread fills up their bellies quickly, but offer no nutritional value to them. So, they have full bellies and absolutely no nutrients causing vitamin deficiencies. This leads to serious and many times fatal health issues
Did you know it's against the law to poison birds? Some birds are nuisances but they do serve a purpose. Examples, Grackles eat wooly worms and many other bugs we don't want around. Vultures are nature's trash disposals.
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There are ways to naturally ward off pesty birds. Here's a few: Use shiny objects, fake predator birds, bird spikes and repellent sprays.