The bird of the day is the American white pelican. I will occasionally see them on the Gunflint Trail, but they can be a lot more common in other parts of the state. Last April, my family and I drove along the Mississippi from Onalaska, Wisconsin to the Twin Cities and saw many large flocks of these beautiful birds. I took the included pictures on about April 14, 2019.
The spoon-shaped plate on top of the beak is only on the breeding adults. According to the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America, the plate is shed after the eggs are laid.
The American white pelican is a very large bird. It is roughly 62 inches long, with a wingspan of 108 inches. Put another way, it is 5 feet, 2 inches long, and has a wingspan of 9 feet!
