Australian Pelicans
Australian Pelicans are found throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea and western Indonesia.
Australian Pelicans measure around 1.6 to 1.8 metres in length with a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.5 metres.
They have a very large bill, which is 40 to 50 centimetres in length.
They are white with black feathers on the edges of the wings, tail and back.
Pelicans feed mainly on fish, but will eat other water animals including tadpoles, turtles and crustaceans; they swim with their mouths open wide and scoop up the fish. They do feed alone but more often they will work as a group to get the fish all together making it easier to scoop them up.
Breeding time is any time of year and depends on conditions.
Pelicans breed in colonies that can number in the thousands.
The female lays one to three eggs; two to three days apart, both parents incubate the eggs on their feet for about 35 days, then both parents care for the young.
The first hatched chick is usually larger than any others. At about 1 month the chicks leave the nest and together with around 100 or so other chicks form creches (nurseries) for about 2 months until they have learnt how to fly and be independent.
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"The Legend of Bimi"
Introduction
There's a tale that begins in the sand hills
That I would like to tell,
Built from myth and many legends,
And my pen it does compel.
The desert's a hot, a hostile place,
Nothing's changed since time began,
There's a hazy unreality there
As if it, in the dreamtime was planned.
The noon of the day is so hot and still,
And over all an expectant hush,
Like a canvas that's waiting impatiently
For the touch of the artists brush.
The fire of the day can change swifly
To the night of startlingly cold,
Many legends are told of the people
Who live in this land so old.
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