Robert Bateman Presents "White Pelican"

"White Pelican" by Robert Bateman

Limited Edition on Paper:
Edition Size: 950 signed and numbered prints
Image Size: 9-1/4" x 11"
Price: Canadian $110.00; approx. US $90.00

"This is one of the most majestic birds in America — with its white and cream plumage, black wing tips and yellow to orange and pink bill and pouch, it rivals the bald eagle. In fact, its nine-foot wingspan is greater than that of the eagle. "One of the ornithological thrills of my youth was the sight of a 'V' formation of white pelicans high in the blue sky on their northward migration. I was delivering early morning papers in Toronto. I didn’t see the pelicans again for another two years when I visited their breeding grounds at Last Mountain Lake on the Canadian Prairies. I was a bit surprised to see a rhino-like protuberance on the top of the bills of some of them. This occurs on both sexes and is shed each year as nesting progresses. "The white pelican was an endangered species due to DDT contamination. It was brought back from near extinction by government and private efforts. In 1987, my wife Birgit and I attended a celebratory ceremony with Prince Philip who was then head of WWF which delisted the bird as an endangered species. "(Incidentally, this was when I presented the Prince with the original of my Bounty of the Wetlands). It was indeed a time to celebrate a small victory in the battle to preserve nature on our beleaguered planet." - Robert Bateman