Two and a Half Shaqs

What do James Joule, Daniel Fahrenheit, Charles Richter, Heinrich Hertz, Isaac Newton, Georg Ohm, James Watt, Allessandro Volta and Shaquille O’Neal have in common? They all have units of measure named after them.

When the largest Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) ever found in the Everglades was discovered, the Washington Post described the 17 1/2 foot exotic beast as “more than twice as long as former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is tall.” Technically Shaq stands 7” 1’ – so really the snake would be 2.5 “Shaqs” long. Naturally I pictured an engorged constrictor with two and half of the fifteen time, NBA All-Star in its belly. Eating a 325 pound Shaq might be a stretch, although another Python was captured recently that had consumed a 76 pound White-tailed Deer.

The American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) stands an impressive .60 Shaqs (5 feet) tall but more incredibly has a 1.25 Shaq (9 foot) wingspan. That’s the second largest wingspan of any bird in North America. Only the 1.4 Shaq (10 foot) California Condor has a greater wingspan.

© Pete Corradino

Most of the White Pelicans are heading out of Florida. They’ve spent the last few months feeding along the coast in a manner entirely different than their Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) cousins who dive for their food. White Pelicans work in groups on the surface of the water and round up fish in the shallows. When the fish are trapped, they dunk their bills into the water and scoop up their prey.

As we progress through spring, developing thermal updrafts allow for the pelicans to migrate en masse to their breeding grounds in the mid-western United States and central portions of Canada. Their massive wingspan allows them to rise quickly in the thermal column and soar for long distances at high altitudes. Flocks of hundreds can be spotted travelling together at this time of the year

Who’s to say if this unit of measure will stick? Consider the measure of a man is not by his free throw percentage but how he stacks up next to enormous snakes and gigantic birds.  

What's Your Wingspan? - The American White Pelican

As our boat rounded a sandbar in the 10,000 islands portion of the Everglades, I noticed a flock of twenty five, massive American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) resting and preening their feathers on an ephemeral tidal island. As the boat navigated around the backside, a flock of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) came into view along the waters edge and the contrast in size between the birds was stunning. I considered for a moment that this was a different, smaller species of cormorant, but the white pelicans are just that big.

The Double-crested Cormorant is not a small bird. With a wing-span over 50 inches and weighing over five pounds, the heavy-bodied diving bird is a conspicuous sight in the water, on power lines and in flight. When standing next to the American White Pelican, they look tiny.

The American White Pelican is the Airbus of birds. They can weigh up to twenty pounds and have a wingspan over nine feet wide. In Florida there is no bigger bird. Consider your “wingspan” is roughly your height. Mine would be five feet nine inches. I’m only nine inches taller than a White Pelican.

Long, broad wings allow the pelicans to reduce energy use by taking advantage of thermal updrafts and wave lift. As warm air rises, it creates a column of warm air that pelicans and other soaring birds can use to their advantage and rise to higher heights. Wind pushed up and over waves also provides a lift for many birds gliding over water.

Most of the White Pelicans use their wingspan to their advantage as they migrate south from the northern plains and eastern Rockies in the US and Canada. Many spend the winter here in Florida where they work in teams, paddling on the surface and steering fish into shallow water where they can scoop them up with their pouched beak. It’s an entirely different strategy then that of the Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) who dive from the air into the water to capture their prey.
Above me, a flock of fifty or more White Pelicans soars above the Everglades. I envy their view. If only I had a wider wingspan.