Australian Beach BirdArt
Today's feature is Australia's two most iconic seabirds, any Australian will recognise these as 'the' beach birds of Australia.
Silver Gull
(Chroiococephalus novaehollindae)
The Silver Gull is a widespread adaptive opportunist. It is found in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. It is a medium sized gull, with a length of ~44cm, a wingspan of ~94cm, and a weight of about 300g.
This bird is most common around the coast, but is found in abundance all over the country, particularly in cities. It is a carnivorous bird, eating invertebrates and fish, but is also a scavenger, and will pester people fiercely for their fish and chips.
Australian Pelican (Pelicanus conspicillatus)
The Australian Pelican is a large coastal waterbird, related distantly to shoebill storks, found in Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and parts of Indonesia. Australian Pelicans are one of the largest ocean birds, and hold the record for the longest bill of any bird, up to 50cm long. It is ~1.7m long, with a ~2.5m wingspan, and a weight of ~7kg.
Pelicans are plunge-diving fish-eaters, utilising its throat pouch as a basket to catch prey. Australian Pelicans rely less on fish for their diet than other species, also eating insects, crustaceons, and even other Water birds, such as Silver Gulls
