1 Photos
The national bird of St. Kitts and Nevis is the brown pelican.  Brown pelicans are the smallest species of pelican; males and females are 0.9 to 1.5 meters long (3 to 5 ft) and weigh over 3 kg (7 lbs). These pelicans are native to Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas along the Gulf Coast, Central Californina, south to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil, south-central Chile, and the Galapagos Islands.  Brown Pelicans feed on mid-size fish and are the only species of pelican that hunts with dramatic plunging dives, flying as high as 30 m (100 ft) before folding back their wings and plunging into the water.  The skin pouch suspended from the lower half its bill holds two or three times more than the bird's stomach—about one gallon of water and fish.  The bird will hold its catch and drain the water from its mouth before swallowing. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo.