The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the
pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
family. It breeds from southeastern
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
through
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, in
swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and shallow lakes.
The great white pelican has been rated as a species of
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List of Endangered Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolog ...
(IUCN). It is listed under Appendix I of the
, Annexure I under the EU Birds Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Appendix II of the
. It is also listed within 108
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...
s in the European Union. It occurs within 43
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
s (IBAs) in its European range. It is one of the species to which the
(AEWA) is applied.
Description
![Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) in flight Ethiopia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Great_white_pelican_%28Pelecanus_onocrotalus%29_in_flight_Ethiopia.jpg)
The great white pelican is a huge birdonly the
Dalmatian pelican
The Dalmatian pelican (''Pelecanus crispus'') is the largest member of the pelican family, and perhaps the world's largest freshwater bird, although rivaled in weight and length by the largest swans. They are elegant soaring birds, with wingspan ...
is, on average, larger among pelicans. It measures in length
with a enormous pink and yellow
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
,
and a dull pale-yellow gular pouch.
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
measures ,
the latter measurement being the highest among extant flying animals outside of the
great albatross
The great albatrosses are seabirds in the genus ''Diomedea'' in the albatross family. The genus ''Diomedea'' formerly included all albatrosses except the sooty albatrosses, but in 1996 the genus was split, with the mollymawks and the North Paci ...
.
[ The adult male measures about in length; it weighs from ] and larger races from the Palaearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
are usually around , with few exceeding . It has a bill measuring . The female measures about in length, and is considerably less bulky, weighing , and has a bill that measures in length. In Lake Edward
Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye or Rweru) is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, ...
, Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, the average weight of 52 males was found to and in 22 females it was . In South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, the average weight of males was and of females was . Thus the sexual dimorphism is especially pronounced in this species (perhaps the greatest known in any extant pelican), as at times the male can average more than 30% more massive than the female. The great white pelican rivals the kori bustard
The kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori'') is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species ( ...
, which has even more pronounced sexual dimorphism, as the heaviest flying bird to reside in Africa (both averaging perhaps slightly heavier than the cape vulture
The Cape vulture (''Gyps coprotheres''), also known as Cape griffon and Kolbe's vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family ''Accipitridae''. It is endemic to southern Africa, and lives mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and in some pa ...
and the wattled crane
The wattled crane (''Grus carunculata'') is a large bird found in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Bugeranus''.
Taxonomy
The first formal description of the wattled crane was by the German nat ...
). There are a small few slightly heavier flying birds in the Eurasian portions of the range. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, r ...
, and the tarsus long. Standard measurements from different areas indicate that pelicans from the Western Palaearctic
The Western Palaearctic or Western Palearctic is part of the Palaearctic realm, one of the eight biogeographic realms dividing the Earth's surface. Because of its size, the Palaearctic is often divided for convenience into two, with Europe, North ...
are somewhat larger than those from Asia and Africa.
The male has a downward bend in the neck and the female has a shorter, straighter beak. The plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
is predominantly white except on remiges
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...
, with a faint pink tinge on the neck and a yellowish base on the foreneck. The primary feathers are black, with white shafts at the bases, occasionally with paler tips and narrow fringes. The secondary feathers are also black, but with a whitish fringe. The upperwing coverts, underwing coverts, and tertials are white. The forehead is swollen and pinkish skin surrounds the bare, dark eyes having brown-red to dark brown irides. It has fleshy-yellow legs and pointed forehead-feathers where meeting the culmen. In breeding season, the male has pinkish skin while the female has orangey skin on its face. The bill is mostly bluish grey, with a red tip, reddish maxilla edges, and a cream-yellow to yolk-yellow gular pouch. The white plumage becomes tinged-pink with a yellow patch on the breast, and the body is tinged yellowish-rosy. It also has a short, shaggy crest on the nape. The white covert feather
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts
The ear coverts are sm ...
s contrast with the solid black primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and secondary
Secondary may refer to: Science and nature
* Secondary emission, of particles
** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products
* The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
feathers. The legs are yellow-flesh to pinkish orange. Both male and female are similar, but the female is smaller and has brighter orange facial skin in the breeding season.
The juvenile has darker, brownish underparts that are palest at the rump, center of the belly, and uppertail coverts. The underwing coverts are mostly dull-white, but the greater coverts are dark and there is a dark brownish bar over the lesser coverts. The rear tertials upperwing coverts mostly have paler tips with a silvery-grey tinge on the greater secondary coverts and tertials. It has dark flight feather
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...
s, and brown-edged wings. The head, neck, and upperparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
, including the upperwing coverts, are mostly brownthis is the darkest part of the neck. The facial skin and the bill, including its gular pouch, are greyish to dusky greyish. The forehead, rump, and abdomen are white, and its legs and feet are grey. Its blackish tail occasionally has a silvery-grey tinge. Its underparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
and back are initially browner and darker than those of the Dalmatian pelican, and the underwing is strongly patterned, similar to the juvenile brown pelican
The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...
.
The great white pelican is distinguished from all other pelicans by its plumage. Its face is naked and the feathering on its forehead tapers to a fine point, whereas other species are completely feathered. In flight, the white underwing with black remiges of the adult are similar only to those of the American white pelican (''P. erythrorhynchos''), but the latter has white inner secondary feathers. It differs from the Dalmatian pelican in its pure white rather than greyish-white plumage, a bare pink facial patch around the eye, and pinkish legs. The spot-billed pelican
The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...
(''P. philippensis'') of Asia is slightly smaller than the great white pelican, with greyish tinged white plumage, and a paler, duller-colored bill. Similarly, the pink-backed pelican
The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar.
Taxonomy
The pink-backe ...
(''P. rufescens'') is smaller, with brownish-grey plumage, a light pink to off-grey bill, and a pinkish wash on the back.
The bird is mostly silent but has a variety of low-pitched lowing, grunting, and growling calls. The flight call is a deep, quiet croak., while at breeding colonies, it gives deep ''moooo'' calls.
Distribution and habitat
The breeding range of the great white pelican extends to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Chad, northern Cameroons, and Nigeria in Africa, and has been observed or reported breeding in Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa. In the 1990s, 6,700 to 11,000 breeding pairs in 23 to 25 breeding sites, were found in the Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
region. A 1991 study noted about 3,070 to 4,300 pairs were present in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Only two breeding colonies are located in the Mediterranean basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...
, one having 250 to 400 pairs in Turkey and the other having 50 to 100 pairs in northern Greece
Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions.
Administrative regions of Greece
Administrative term
The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...
. The breeding colony at Lake Rukwa, Tanzania is the largest known breeding colony in Africa, followed by the Lake Shala, Ethiopia colony which is probably of crucial importance to the species in Africa.
The African population of about 75,000 pairs of the great white pelican is resident. The ones breeding in the Palearctic region are migrants, although it is possible that the majority of the western Palearctic populations stop-over in Israel during their autumn migration. The migration routes are only partially known. Migratory populations are found from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
to Kazakhstan during the breeding season. More than 50% of Eurasian great white pelicans breed in the Danube Delta
The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...
in Romania. They also prefer staying in the Lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s near Burgas
Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...
, Bulgaria and in Srebarna Lake in Bulgaria. The pelicans arrive in the Danube in late March or early April and depart after breeding from September to late November. Wintering locations for European pelicans are not exactly known but wintering birds may occur in northeastern Africa through Iraq to north India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
, with a particularly large number of breeders from Asia wintering around Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Northern populations migrate to China, India, Myanmar, with stragglers reaching Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
and Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
in Indonesia. These are birds that are found mostly in lowlands, though in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
and Nepal may be found living at elevations of up to .
Overall, the great white pelican is one of the most widely distributed species. Although some areas still hold quite large colonies, it ranks behind the brown pelican and possibly the Australian pelican
The Australian pelican (''Pelecanus conspicillatus'') is a large waterbird in the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand ...
in overall abundance. Europe now holds an estimated 7,345–10,000 breeding pairs, with over 4,000 pairs that are known to nest in Russia. During migration, more than 75,000 have been observed in Israel and, in winter, over 45,000 may stay in Pakistan. In all its colonies combined, 75,000 pairs are estimated to nest in Africa. It is possibly extinct in Serbia and Montenegro, and regionally extinct in Hungary.
Great white pelicans usually prefer shallow, (seasonally or tropical) warm fresh water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
. Well scattered groups of breeding pelicans occur through Eurasia from the eastern Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
to Vietnam. In Eurasia, fresh or brackish water
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...
s may be inhabited and the pelicans may be found in lakes, deltas, lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
s and marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es, usually with dense reed beds nearby for nesting purposes. Additionally, sedentary populations are found year-round in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
although these are patchy. In Africa, great white pelicans occur mainly around freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
and alkaline lake
A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH, pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt com ...
s and may also be found in coastal, estuarine areas. Beyond reed beds, African pelicans have nested on inselbergs
An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...
and flat inshore islands off of Banc d'Arguin National Park
The Banc d'Arguin National Park ( ar, حوض أركين) of Bay of Arguin lies in Western Africa on the west coast of Mauritania between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and is the former mouth of the Tamanrasset River. The World Heritage Site is ...
.
Behavior
The great white pelican is highly sociable and often forms large flocks. It is well adapted for aquatic life. The short strong legs and webbed feet propel it in water and aid a rather awkward takeoff from the water surface. In flight, it is an elegant soaring bird, with the head held close to and aligned with the body. Its flight consists of a few slow wingbeats followed by a glide. Once aloft, the long-winged pelicans are powerful fliers, however, and often travel in spectacular linear, circular, or V-formation groups.
Feeding
The great white pelican mainly eats fish. It leaves its roost to feed early in the morning and may fly over in search of food, as has been observed in Chad and in Mogode, Cameroon. It needs from of fish every day, which corresponds to around annual fish consumption at the largest colony of the great white pelican, on Tanzania's Lake Rukwa (with almost 75,000 birds). Fish targeted are usually fairly large ones, in the weight range, and are taken based on regional abundance. Common carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
are preferred in Europe, mullets in China, and Arabian toothcarp in India. In Africa, often the commonest cichlid
Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...
s, including many species in the ''Haplochromis
''Haplochromis'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cichlidae. It has been used as the default "wastebin taxon" for Pseudocrenilabrinae cichlids of the East African Rift, and as such became the "largest" fish "genus". Many of these cichlids ...
'' and ''Tilapia
Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...
'' genera, seem to be preferred.
The pelican's pouch serves simply as a scoop. As the pelican pushes its bill underwater, the lower bill bows out, creating a large pouch which fills with water and fish. As it lifts its head, the pouch contracts, forcing out the water but retaining the fish. A group of 6 to 8 great white pelicans gather in a horseshoe formation in water to feed together. They dip their bills in unison, creating a circle of open pouches, ready to trap every fish in the area. Most feeding is cooperative and done in groups, especially in shallow waters where fish schools can be corralled easily, though they may also forage alone as well.
Great white pelicans are not restricted to fish, however, and are often opportunistic foragers. In some situations, they eat chicks of other birds, such as the well documented case off the southwest coast of South Africa. Here, breeding pelicans from the Dassen Island
Dassen Island is an uninhabited South African island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated about west of Yzerfontein and north of Cape Town. The flat and low-lying island measures about long northwest-southeast and wide, with an area of . It ...
prey on chicks weighing up to from the Cape gannet
The Cape gannet (''Morus capensis'') is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae.
They are easily identified by their large size, black and white plumage and distinctive yellow crown and hindneck. The pale blue bill is pointed with fine ...
colony on Malgas Island
Malgas Island is a small, , uninhabited island lying in the northern part of the entrance to Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies about from the mainland in the Benguela Current, Benguela upwelling system. It is c ...
. Similarly, in Walvis Bay, Namibia
Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...
the eggs and chicks of Cape cormorant
The Cape cormorant or Cape shag (''Phalacrocorax capensis'') is a bird endemic to the southwestern coasts of Africa.
It breeds from Namibia south to southern Western Cape. In the nonbreeding season, it may be found as far north as the mouth of t ...
s are fed regularly to young pelicans. The local pelican population is so reliant on the cormorants, that when the cormorant species experienced a population decline, the numbers of pelicans appeared to decline as well.
They also rob other birds of their prey. During periods of starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...
, they also eat seagull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...
s and duckling
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ta ...
s. The gulls are held under water and drowned before being eaten headfirst. A flock of captive great white pelicans in St James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...
, London is well known for occasionally eating local pigeons
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
, despite being well-fed.
Breeding
The breeding season commences in April or May in temperate zones, is essentially all year around in Africa and runs February through April in India. Large numbers of these pelicans breed together in colonies.
Nest locations vary: some populations make stick nests in trees but a majority, including all those that breed in Africa, nest exclusively in scrapes on the ground lined with grass, sticks, feathers and other material.
The female can lay from 1 to 4 eggs in a clutch, with two being the average. Incubation takes 29 to 36 days. The chicks are naked when they hatch but quickly sprout blackish-brown down. The young are cared for by both parents. The colony gathers in "pods" around 20 to 25 days after the eggs hatch. The young fledge
Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight.
This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable c ...
at 65 to 75 days of age. Around 64% of young successful reach adulthood, attaining sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years of age.
Predators
While white pelicans are often protected from bird-eating raptors by virtue of their own great size, eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
s, especially sympatric ''Haliaeetus
A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
Taxonomy and evolution
The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...
'' species, may prey on their eggs, nestlings, and fledglings. Occasionally, pelicans and their young are attacked at their colonies by mammalian carnivores, such as jackal
Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
s and lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s. As is common in pelicans, the close approach of a large predaceous or unknown mammal, including a human, at a colony will lead the pelican to abandon its nest in self-preservation. Additionally, crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
s, especially Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...
s in Africa, readily kill and eat swimming pelicans.
Status and conservation
Since 1998, the great white pelican has been rated as a species of least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. This is because it has a large range more than 20,000 km2 (7700 mi2) and because its population is thought not to have declined by 30% over ten years or three generations, which is not a rapid enough decline to warrant a vulnerable rating. However, the state of its overall population is not known, and although it is widespread, it is not abundant anywhere. It is one of the species to which the (AEWA) applies. It is listed under the Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and Annexure I of the EU Birds Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It occurs within 43 Important Bird Areas in its European range, and is listed within 108 Special Protection Areas in the European Union. This species is often kept in captivity in zoos or in semi-wild colonies such as that in St. James's Park, London. The ancestors of this colony were originally given to Charles II by the Russian ambassador in 1664 which initiated the tradition of ambassadors donating the birds.
Today, because of overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
in certain areas, white pelicans are forced to fly long distances to find food. Great white pelicans are exploited for many reasons. Their pouch is used to make tobacco bags, their skin is turned into leather, the guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
is used as fertiliser
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
, and the fat of its young is converted into oils for traditional medicine in China and India. In Ethiopia, great white pelicans are shot for their meat. Human disturbance, loss of foraging habitat and breeding sites, as well as pollution are all contributing to the decline of the great white pelican. Declines have been particularly notable in the Palaearctic.[
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References
External links
(Great) White Pelican Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
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Educational article with video about Great White Pelican
{{Taxonbar, from=Q199427
great white pelican
The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...
Birds of Central Asia
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great white pelican
The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...
great white pelican
The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...
Articles containing video clips
Birds of Nepal