Chase mortality

"When it comes to fishing, the bird uses the beak and pouch as a personal fishing net, capable of catching fish over three-quarters the length of the bill. The bill is highly sensitive, which in murky water or at night allows the pelican to fish by touch alone, useful when some pelicans have to catch four pounds (two kilograms) of food daily. The beak is smooth along the edges, quite useless when trying to grab a slippery fish (unlike some other fishing birds' beaks that are serrated like a streak knife). All is not lost though, the pelican has a mean hook, called a mandibular nail, at the end of its beak, important in nabbing or killing prey. It is also used to preen and to intimidate predators, competitors, and overzealous ornithologists."

David A. O'Conner