One of North America's largest birds visits Southwest Florida for the winter

They are among the largest birds in North America, and they're arriving now in Southwest Florida.

American white pelicans migrate to this region during late fall and early winter months, staying here during the coldest times of the year.

Photos of white pelicans showed up as early as Nov. 23 for this region, with members of the SW Florida Birders Alert group showing their latest shots on social media.

The pelicans can be seen at places like J.N "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel and in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and at various preserves and green spaces in between and beyond those two population spots.

White pelicans spend warmer months in areas like Montana, North Dakota and Canada and come here, to other Gulf Coast states, Mexico and California for the winter.

"Breeding white pelican juveniles, healthy adult white pelicans are winter visitors to the state," a Florida Fish and Wildlidfe Conservation Commission, or FWC, website reads. "In the summer, white pelican adults breed in colonies on lakes in the interior of western Canada and the northwestern United States. Winters are spent in southern Mexico, southern California and along the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida."

Giants of the skies

With a 9-foot wingspan, white pelicans are among the largest birds in North America.

Bird experts describe this giant of the skies as a foraging avian that hunt collectively in large groups of up to a few dozen.

The bird "forages by swimming on (the) surface, dipping bill into water and scooping up fish in pouch," an Audubon website reads. "During breeding season does much foraging at night, locating fish by touch during frequent dipping of bill."

They're larger than brown pelicans, and they hunt in a different way as well.

"White pelicans feed differently than brown pelicans," an FWC website says. "They do not plunge dive as brown pelicans do, instead white pelicans float on the surface, submerge their heads and scoop up fish. They also often fish cooperatively in small groups, herding the fish in front of them."

How to identify white pelicans in flight

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They're also known for their flight pattern, which sometimes resembles a wide V-formation and looks like feathered fighter jets flying in unison.

"In flight, white pelicans have a graceful strong flight and usually fly in large flocks high in the air and in a V formation," an FWC site says. "Adults are a distinctive white with black wing tips. The bill, legs and toes are reddish-orange or pink."

Most of the white pelicans will leave the area again next spring, although a few may stay and live out the summer in the Sunshine State.

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"Breeders from northern plains migrate southeast and southwest to coastal lowlands," Audubon says. "Some nonbreeding birds remain through summer on winter range, especially in Florida. Strays wander widely, including to northeast."

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: True snowbirds, white pelicans coming south for the winter