What does the pelican use its pouch for?

Pelican are large, queer-looking water birds.  A pelican is easily recognized by the big pouch that hangs from the underside of its long beak.

The pelican does not store food in this pouch, as many people believe.  It uses the pouch as a scoop to catch fish, which are then quickly swallowed.

Pelicans known as “brown pelicans” are often seen along seashores.  To catch a fish, the brown pelican dives straight down into the water with open bill into a school of fish, scoops one up in his pouch, and swallows it.

While pelicans cannot dive under the water.  They hunt their fish while swimming in shallow water, using the big pouches under their long beaks as dragnets to capture small fish.

A pelican feeds its young by passing partly digested food from its stomach back up into the pouch.

The baby pelican sticks its head into the parent’s pouch and pecks-up the food.

Visual courtesy:  birding

What is a starfish?

 

 

 

 

A starfish is a star-shaped animal that lives on the bottom of the sea in bays and shallow water.  Starfish eat clams and other shellfish by pulling the shells apart and pushing their stomach into the shells to digest the food.

 

Starfish have a peculiar way of eating.  The common starfish feeds mostly on shellfish, it especially likes to eat clams, oysters, and mussels.

 

To open a clam shell, the starfish wraps its arms around it.  Under each arm are rows of tube like feet that stick to the shell like suction cups.  The starfish then pulls the two section of the clam’s shell assist with its powerful arms.

 

A starfish’s mouth is under its body.  As soon as a starfish has pulled open the clam, it opens its mouth, turns it stomach inside out and pushes it inside the clam’s shell and digests the clam’s soft body.

 

Once the meat is finished, the starfish pulls back its stomach, leaving only an empty clam shell behind.  Most starfish have five arms, but some have seven arms or more.  If a starfish loose an arm, it can grow another. – John ny Wonder

 

 

 

photo courtesy:  ukdivers