Characterised by their long beak and large throat poach used for catching prey and draining water , pelicans are already aesthetically peculiar looking birds . But it turns out that watching one yawn is an even stranger visual experience , as an American man discovered after coming face-to-face with one of the birds . Capturing the footage in Santa Barbara , California , Scott Kaiser filmed the back of the large pelican sitting on a post overlooking the water . Recording the bird in slow motion , the video maker later noted that the pelican looked majestic , content and relaxed at this point in the clip . Before it began lifting its head all the way back and opening its mouth extremely wide to show off the size difference between the two parts of its beak . The bird then closes its mouth while looking up at the sky and the air sacs in its throat begin deflating once again as it settles back down . The bizarre slow motion footage was captured in Santa Barbara , California by video maker Scott Kaiser . At this point all the excitement appears to be over . But the bird shows it has one more trick up its sleeve as it rolls its head right back , opens its mouth again and inflates its air sacs . On display appears to be the pelican ’ s tongue and , quite bizarrely , some inner bill anatomy . The video concludes with the bird returning to its original position and continuing to look over the water as if nothing ever happened . The bird lifts its head all the way back and opens its mouth to show off the size difference between the two parts of its beak . The video maker later commented on the experience , describing it as an amazing display of the length and strength of the pelican ’ s neck and bill . Pelicans are large water birds that have mainly light-coloured plumage – the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans . They travel in flocks and hunt cooperatively , feeding primarily on fish caught on or near the water surface . The bird rolls its head right back , opens its mouth and inflates its air sacs to expose its tongue and some inner bill anatomy .
The slow motion footage was captured in California , Santa Barbara . Scott Kaiser videoed the bird sitting on a post overlooking the water . Pelican yawns exposing its beak size , tongue and inner bill anatomy .