This bird just plunged into the water about 20 feet from us. We were walking a trail at the DeSoto National Monument. (More on that next week in the parks blog.) The first year Brown Pelican is brown (clever, right), like our subject, but as they mature they get a white head and neck and lighter back. During breeding stage the back of the neck is dark brown and the white tinges with yellow. This fellow was learning to fish as the two adults were much more adapt at catching fish.
