AFAIK it is the world’s largest pelican. We only have the one pelican in Australia.

Beautiful image, Mark.

I did some quick research on your pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), using arkive.org[/URL]

Learned that:

1) it has the longest bill of any bird in the world
2) it feeds cooperatively as do other pelican species (the American White Pelican, Pelacanus erythrorhynchos, feeds cooperatively in small groups, looking like a team of synchronized swimming competitors in the Olympics)
3) it gathers in huge feeding flocks of nearly 2000 individuals
4) with its striking black and white adult coloration, it is an especially handsome bird
5) and that, fortunately, it is thriving and not in danger of extinction

More great ones, Mark.

And for some color to set off the lovely black & white pelicans…

Certainly colourful, Dave. Looks like a fossilised rodent of sorts, but I bet it’s not!

Although I like your interpretation better than the reality, it’s really the damaged edge of the thick leaf of a succulent. I believe succulents store water in these thick leaves, and this makes me think that the gray mess on top (kind of like a scab on a minor injury) is the plant’s way of sealing whatever damage happened to protect against water loss until the plant heals.

Beautiful image, Mark.

I did some quick research on your pelican ([I]Pelecanus conspicillatus[/I]), using [URL=https://www.arkive.org/australian-pelican/pelecanus-conspicillatus/][B]arkive.org[/B][/URL]

Learned that:

1) it has the longest bill of any bird in the world
2) it feeds cooperatively as do other pelican species (the American White Pelican, [I]Pelacanus erythrorhynchos, [/I]feeds cooperatively in small groups, looking like a team of synchronized swimming competitors in the Olympics)
3) it gathers in huge feeding flocks of nearly 2000 individuals
4) with its striking black and white adult coloration, it is an especially handsome bird
5) and that, fortunately, it is thriving and not in danger of extinction

Great flocks of these pelicans suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere because they know the water is coming. They soar high on the thermals and migrate around Australia in large numbers with military precision.

Thanks for the links, MFI. I scanned the articles and saved the links for more careful reading later.

Fascinating how intricate, clever, and adaptive nature is.

We have adapted to use this callus in order to cultivate and graft plants.
The number of plants that have gone under my surgeon’s knife is huge.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304423888901586