World Photo by Madeline Steege

Pelicans appear to be frolicking in the bay near Charleston as they dive for food on a recent sunny morning.

In Oregon, pelicans arrive from Mexico as early as late April, spending the summer and fall in estuaries and river mouths and along the open seacoast, but the general northward movement is in July and August. More and more birds are lingering beyond October, but most are gone south by the end of November. These big-billed birds feed almost exclusively on fish that they catch by diving headfirst into the water from heights of up to 60 feet.