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:

Hop into Lunar New Year
20 Feb 2024Kinder Scout, England
Glasto turns 50
24 May 2024European Day of Parks
24 Mar 2025Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
16 Dec 2024Salzburg, Austria
16 Sep 2023Oktoberfest begins
Rugged rocks and ancient history
18 Oct 2025International Archaeology Day
15 Mar 2024Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, USA
16 Mar 2024Giant panda
17 May 2024Endangered Species Day
16 Apr 2024Union Square, Manhattan, New York, USA
12 Jul 2024Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA
Is it art?
A wave of remembrance
Blue as far as the eye can see
7 Nov 2024Vancouver Coastal Sea wolves in the Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
5 Nov 2023Guy Fawkes Night
The largest gypsum dune field
3 Apr 2026Armbrug bridge, Amsterdam, Netherlands
17 Mar 2024Saint Patricks Day
Fit for a king
20 Jan 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States
24 Sep 2024Skaftafell, Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
High achievers
Stairway to heaven?
A pink moon over Arizona
Aug 30, 2023International Whale Shark Day
8 Mar 2026Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon, United States