Pelican barn under construction
This month our team is working with contractors Landmark Construction to install a pelican "barn" at the back of our Pelican Cove exhibit.
In early March, the shelter will be ready to welcome two male Dalmatian Pelicans who will join our two female pelicans, Rogue (in photo above) and Storm in the exhibit. The male pelicans are from a zoo in Budapest. They have finished their quarantine period in the UK and continue isolation at WWT Slimbridge in the Conservation Breeding Unit before joining us next month.
Dalmatian pelicans were once a familiar sight on UK wetlands 2000 years ago, but they became extinct as their wetland homes were drained for farms and people hunted them for food. They are the largest and rarest of the pelican species. Currently wild Dalmatian pelicans migrate between central Eurasia, Taiwan, the Persian Gulf, and Siberia.
Rogue and Storm are currently at home in our Pelican Cove exhibit with a huge pond and a pair of islands for them to perch on to preen their feathers and sunbathe. The shelter will provide an area for the birds to be off-show for periods and a space for to enable us to do their health checks and weighing on the exhibit.
Their beaks can hold up to 3 buckets of water Photo: James King
These big birds have a huge wingspan with a wingspan up to 10 feet! Their huge throat pouch under their oversized beak holds up to 3 buckets of water, acting like a net to scoop up prey. Our Keepers offer them fish several times a day to match their appetites. Meet the Keepers at 2 pm talk each day at Pelican Cove to answer all your pelican questions.
