Brown pelican, San Diego, California, United States 17 Jan 2025

Brown pelican, San Diego, California, United States

Today"s image features the brown pelican, a bird that doesn"t just fly but soars, spots and dives with unmatched precision. Although it"s the smallest of the eight pelican species worldwide, it"s still a large bird, measuring more than a metre in length and having a wingspan of nearly two metres. It"s a marine-dwelling species and can be spotted along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River. On the Pacific coast, it can be spotted from British Columbia all the way to Peru, including a stop at the Galapagos Islands.

© Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Beauty comes in trees
17 Jan 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany

More Desktop Wallpapers:

24 Sep 2023World Rivers Day
A show of prehistoric hands
Hello, is it tea you’re looking for?
18 Dec 2025Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, United States
29 Nov 2025Red deer stag in De Hoge Veluwe National Park, Netherlands
Last night of the Proms
Night outside the museum
21 Dec 2024Burning the Clocks
Bewitched by the fairy flower
12 Jan 2024Bukhansan National Park, South Korea
1 Aug 2026Brighton Pride
5 Apr 2024The Bahamas
A warm hug in the icy north
Good cold fun
16 Mar 2026National Panda Day
2 May 2026Tŵr Mawr Lighthouse, Anglesey, Wales
22 Nov 2025Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan, China
5 Aug 2025Tide pools in La Jolla, California, United States
11 Dec 2023International Mountain Day
Gem of the Côte dAzur
13 Apr 2026International Dark Sky Week
22 May 2025Hay Festival
28 Jan 2025Short-eared owl
13 Nov 2023Serra de Tramuntana, Balearic Islands, Majorca, Spain
12 Dec 2023Reed bunting
We can all just get along
12 Feb 2026Darwin Day
19 Jan 2026Abraham Lake, Alberta, Canada
8 Jul 2024Blueberries growing in the wild
22 Apr 2024Earth Day