Stories and photos have been swirling around the internet claiming that pelicans push their spinal cords up through their throats and out of their mouths to cool down in hot climates. It turns out, this claim is entirely untrue.
So why does it look like pelicans are pushing their spinal cords out of their mouths then?
'In those photos, the birds are actually yawning,' National Park ranger and bird expert Sharon Stiteler told USA Today.
Birds all yawn in one way or another. Pelicans are larger birds and have very few predators compared to other bird species, so they can get away with being more leisurely in their yawning compared to their smaller counterparts.
Pelicans produce a large bulge during these yawns, which is referred to as glottis exposure. It involves birds inverting the pouches beneath their beaks oer their necks and chest. 'Glottis exposure is to do with getting the gular pouch skin back into normal place, and apparently also with hygiene and self-cleaning,' reports paleontologist Darren Naish.
If you're wondering how pelicans do actually stay cool, the answer is that they hold their bill open while fluttering this 'gular pouch' (a pouch or sac in the throat) with each breath. It's not dissimilar to the way dogs pant. Birds are warm blooded, but they don't have sweat glands so have to find other ways of keeping cool. Find out more about birds' sweat and ways to keep cool here.
