Predatory pelican

It's too bad avian faces are so expressionless, because you have to wonder what these two birds were thinking.

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Three weeks ago, I gave a talk at Stanford University about my new book Soul Made Flesh.
Perched heavily on a white stone wall, a cast-iron stegosaurus watched expressionlessly as a backhoe tore up a patch of land that was supposed to have been left green.
Ethan Siegel wants you to compel him to go bald. He claims he is going to shear off all of his hair to raise money for charity, but I've seen this act before. It's so familiar.
Wow. This guy is like Ben Stein on quaaludes — and just as wrong, wrong, wrong. The opening premise for his slo-mo diatribe is ridiculous:

Pelican: Mmm, lunch!

Pigeon: Oh, no, I'm lunch!

Given the intelligence of pigeons, I'm guessing that the pigeon hadn't yet noticed anything out of the ordinary.

By MJ Memphis (not verified) on 25 Oct 2006 #permalink

The fishing must have been going very poorly for that pelican to put up with a twenty minute struggle to get the pigeon, struggling and flapping, down its throat.

Q. Why did the Pelican ate the pigeon ?

A: Because his belly can ?

somebody should capture that pelican for use in a captive breeding program!

we could get an army of pigeon eating pelicans!

OTOH, if you thought the pigeon droppings on your car were bad...

Do you suppose this pelican eats bushes too?

little "b" or big "B"?

I doubt even a pelican could fit the inflated head of GW in it's maw.

Pigeon: A you sure this is the 4:05 to Pawtucket?

By justawriter (not verified) on 25 Oct 2006 #permalink

The pigeon is thinking "Hey, it's cool so far."

Perhaps I'm just projecting, but I would say that the pigeon looks mildly alarmed.

The pigeon is thinking "Hey, it's cool so far." " This is really a weird bird bath.
Where is the water?"

By jeanine sepin (not verified) on 25 Oct 2006 #permalink

"Here is a Pink Floyd video that I guarantee you have never seen!"

Unless you have the new Pulse DVD. It's on there as an extra.

The pigeon is obviously thinking, "Oh no, not again."

David wrote:

"Unless you have the new Pulse DVD. It's on there as an extra."

Great!
This original version is much better than the one we are used to seeing. I wonder why they pulled it after one day?
I love the scene where he starts running toward the cliff. The music seems to blend right in with the action. It's simply stunning.
"Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye"

The papers here have all got this photo, and another one, with just a few feathers sticking out of the Pelican's beak!

"London" pigeons are vermin. They are usually covered in lice and ticks, and carry blood diseases and have tapeworms .... ugh.

A couple of years ago or so, a European Eagle Owl took up residence on St Pauls' cathedral in London, and kept the pigeons down for about a year, then it died suddenly, presumably, because one of the pigeons was so diseased that it poisoned the Owl.
Pity.

By G. Tingey (not verified) on 25 Oct 2006 #permalink

Yup, that's it.
The background is recognisably the lake in St James' Park, London (Buckingham palace's public front garden, effectively)

By G. Tingey (not verified) on 26 Oct 2006 #permalink

Be fair, though...Pelicans are predators normally. They just don't usually go for feathered prey.

By Anton Mates (not verified) on 26 Oct 2006 #permalink

I don't understand why this is news. The pelicans in St. James's have *long* gone for pigeons.

There are tales of predatory flamingoes, as well. :)