Brown Noddy

That's cool.

Fabulous shots! Thank you, Doug! You may be right: The Noddies may sometimes actually steal fish out of the Pelican's pouch, but observing these scenens multiple times I believe that the Noddy more frequently catches one or more little fish escaping from the pouch while the Pelican slowly pulls it up and above the water surface, thereby slowly draining it, releasing the water from the pouch. That process sometimes takes a minute or so, allowing small fish to escape. That would make the Noddy sometimes a parasite and sometimes a commensal - and would explain why the Pelican does not really care about the Noddy sitting on his head. - Your second shot shows very nicely how the Pelican throws up his pouch and head to swallow his drained haul. Congratulations! - Go to facebook.com/darwinfoundation for scientific info on Galapagos.