Action Outdoors
Educational Resources for Teachers and Schools

Coastal Birds

Dixon Lanier Meritt has a children’s limerick that starts out “A wonderful birds is the pelican, his bill can hold more than his belly can”. According to US Fish and Wildlife this is not far from the truth; “the pouch suspended from the lower half of the pelican’s long straight bill can hold up three times more than his stomach.”

• The great blue heron is known as the largest heron found in North America.
• “Length: 20 inches, Wingspan: 38 inches” (USGS).
• They live lakes, pond, rivers and marshes. They are adapted for fresh and salt water.
• When feeding they wade slowly through the water or stands still in a shallow pool of water till a fish swims close enough to grab it.
• They feed on fish, frogs, snakes and insects.
• Great blue herons nest together in colonies at the tops of trees (Butler, 1990).
  

• "Length: 13 Wingspan: 41" (USGS).
• Habitat: Lakes, Salt Marshes, Beaches, Ocean.
• The Laughing Gull has a highly varied diet. It is a carnivore as well as a scavenger.
• In the wild, it will eat insects, fish, shellfish, and crabs. (Patuxent Wildlife Center, 1998) They can get their food from the water while they are airborne by either skimming the surface or diving. (Patuxent Bird ID InfoCenter, 1998)
• They also gets food from man-made sources such as garbage, sewage, refuse from fishing boats, and anything tossed to them by humans. (Patuxent Bird ID InfoCenter, 1998)
• Nest in Colonies.
  

• Small white heron with slender black bill, clack legs and yellow feet (Enature, 2000).
• "Length: 20 inches Wingspan: 38 inches" (USGS).
• Egrets commonly live in fresh and salt water marshes, ponds and shores.
• Feed on shrimp and minnows by sprinting rapidly through shallow water chasing their meal.
• Nest in trees or on the ground. Neat are often found with other herons.
  

• Large dark water bird, with an orange throat pouch, long neck and hooked bill.
• “Length: 27 inches Wingspan: 50 inches” (USGS).
• Cormorants are found coastally as well as in lakes and rivers. Can often be found where pelicans are feeding.
• Feed on fish and crustaceans
• Nests made out of sticks or seaweed and they nest in colonies in trees or on cliffs (Enature, 2000).
  

• A large white bird with a long flat bill. The white pelican has a horny plate on the upper mandible of the bill. (Enature, 2000)
• Length: 50 inches Wingspan: 110 inches. (USGS)
• They commonly live in lakes and coastal lagoons.
• White pelicans are migratory birds. They winter along the gulf coast; and summer at their breeding grounds in Canada and northern US.
• “During migration you can see white pelicans in long line in V formation and often soars at great heights” (Robbins, Brunn & Zinn, 1983).
• White pelicans do not dive for their food, instead they work cooperatively to surround fish in shallow water, so that they can scoop them up in their bill.