White pelican food web

Their diet consists mainly of fish, which they capture individually or through a co-operative effort: a few birds will form a semicircle and slowly swim towards shore while beating their wings and herding their prey towards shallower water; in unison they dip their bill and catch any fish that swim into it. The bill of all pelicans, unique to the bird world, has a distensible throat pouch that can hold up to 13.5 litres. The pouch is not only used as a dip net to catch fish, but acts as a cooling device when this bare skin is fluttered.