A large flock of American White Pelicans has honed into Chapala’s waterfront as an idyllic spot to spend the winter, complete with congenial surroundings and free meals.
Nicknamed by locals as borregones due to their slight resemblance to chubby lambs, the hefty birds have become accustomed to clustering around the foot of the pier every day between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. when hired hand Antonio Solano arrives at the docks with a load of scraps collected from fish mongers at the town market. To catch the daily feeding frenzy, head down to the Malecón before the end of March when the pelicans start flying back to the northern U.S. and Canada for the spring-summer nesting season.