Peli-Cam Captures Incredible Views of Tanzanian National Park

A pelican called "Big Bird", who lives at a safari lodge in Kigoma Region, Tanzania, has captured incredible aerial footage over the Mahale Mountains National Park.

The camera was attached to the beak of the great white pelican, to capture the view as it set off for it's evening flight over Lake Tanganyika.

As the pelican takes off from the beach, it flies over the shore of the lake, with the sunset behind.

The video was uploaded onto YouTube by Nomad Tanzania.

The owners of the lodge where the pelican lives described the bird's routine on their blog: "He didn't fly for some weeks but with encouragement he got the idea."

"Flight training commences before breakfast most mornings if wind conditions allow. Even Big Bird knows that taking off with a back wind is foolhardy.

They added: "We would look away when he was landing as he seemed to not distinguish between ground and air speed, coming in way too fast and endangering our beach furniture."

Pelicans are large water birds from the family Pelecanidae, recognisable by their throat pouch which they use to catch prey and drain water before swallowing.

Fossil evidence of pelicans date back to around 30 million years, as they share similar beaks to modern species recovered from the ancient Oligocene strata.

The bills, pouches and facial skin of the birds becomes brightly coloured during the mating season. Ordinarily, pelicans live in water situated inland or on the coast, where they feed on fish.

White-plumaged species nest on the ground, whereas white-feathered species build homes in trees.

According to Nomad Tanzania, pelicans "corral the fish co-operating with each other and then scoop the cornered prey into their large stretchy pouches below the bill".

They added: "We only recently worked out that he is a male due to the size and shape of his bill and the colour of his facial mask (pink). He was all brown when he arrived but the colours are really coming through now and his pouch, legs and face are changing to bright yellow and pink, the colour of the mature birds."