Tom Taylor - Nature and the Artist (Pelicans flying)- (Field Museum of Natural History Chicago 1984) - (Genuine and Vintage) - Poster - 40 x 24

Nature and the Artist

NB. The Picture just shows the Picture, and leaves the Border out (Where the picture goes to the Border, the sizes will be the same)

All these sizes are approximate and in inches:
Poster including the border = 40x24
Just the picture with the Border removed = 30x20

These posters are unframed, and are sent rolled in a sturdy tube

However, these Posters can be framed if you wanted them to be, please contact us if you would wish them to be framed for Prices and Postage costs

A Pelican Montage

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that makes up the family Pelecanidae.

They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing.

Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are now known to be most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes.

Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back to at least 30 million years to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France. They are thought to have evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas; this is reflected in the relationships within the genus as the eight species divide into Old World and New World lineages.

Pelicans frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing. Their populations have fallen through habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.

The genus Pelecanus was first formally described by Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet. This early definition included frigatebirds, cormorants, and sulids as well as pelicans.

The name comes from the Ancient Greek word pelekan, which is itself derived from the word pelekys meaning "axe". In classical times, the word was applied to both the pelican and the woodpecker.