MCLENNAN COUNTY (February 8,
2013)—Norman Manning, a McLennan County Road and Bridge Department employee,
was replacing a missing road sign Friday just outside of Waco when he heard
noises coming from the brush behind him that he at first thought were coming
from a dog.
But what he found when he went
to investigate was a big bird that was trying to flap its wings in a dense
thicket near the intersection of Boys Ranch Road and Old Mexia Road.
Fearing that the bird was
trapped, he called the dispatch office, which in turn contacted the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department.
About an hour later parks and
wildlife workers arrived and managed to capture the American white pelican, one
of the largest native birds in the U.S., which can have a wingspan of as much
as 120 inches, can weigh as much as 30 pounds and can have a length of as much
as 70 inches thanks in part to its huge beak.
The bird did not appear to be
injured, but the parks and wildlife workers planned to check it out before
taking it to Lake Waco, where other pelicans have been spotted.
The American white pelican
typically nests in colonies in remote brackish and freshwater lakes, the Texas
Bird Breeding Atlas says.
They’ve been found as far north
as the Northwest Territories and about 20 percent of them use an island in
Great Salt Lake as a nesting ground, but isolated breeding populations have
been identified in Texas, which may be home to the only non-migratory
population in the U.S. the atlas says.
As many as 20 to 30 of the
birds have been spotted in the Lake Waco area, according to one report.
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| (Photo by Nichole Perez) |
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