The Peruvian pelican (''Pelecanus thagus'') is a member of the
pelican family. It lives on the west coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, breeding in loose
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
from about
33.5° in central
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
to
Piura in northern
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, and occurring as a visitor in southern Chile and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
.
[ Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive]
Peruvian pelican.
Retrieved 21 May 2017.
Description
These birds are dark in colour with a white stripe from the top of the
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 ...
up to the crown and down the sides of the neck. They have long tufted
feathers on the top of their heads. It was previously considered a
subspecies of the
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 ...
(''Pelecanus occidentalis''). The Peruvian pelican is considerably larger, ranging from about in weight, in length and with a wingspan of about .
[ Compared to the brown pelican, it also has proportionally longer crest feathers, as well as differences in the colours of the ]gular pouch
Gular skin (throat skin), in ornithology, is an area of featherless skin on birds that joins the lower mandible of the beak (or ''bill'') to the bird's neck. Other vertebrate taxa may have a comparable anatomical structure that is referred to as e ...
, beak, scapulars
The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either ...
and greater wing covert
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.[
]
Behaviour
Breeding
The main breeding season occurs from September to March. Clutch size
__NOTOC__
A clutch of egg (biology), eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.
In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for exam ...
is usually two or three eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
. Eggs are incubated for approximately 4 to 5 weeks, with the rearing period lasting about 3 months.
Feeding
This bird feeds on several species of fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
. Unlike the brown pelican, it never dives from a great height to catch it food, instead diving from a shallow height or feeding while swimming on the surface. On occasion it may take other food items, such as nestling of imperial shag
The imperial shag or imperial cormorant (''Leucocarbo atriceps'') is a black and white cormorant native to southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including ...
s, young Peruvian diving petrels, gray gulls and cannibalize unrelated chicks of its own species.
Conservation
Its status was first evaluated for the IUCN Red List
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 biol ...
in 2008, being listed as Near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...
.[ BirdLife International (BLI) (2008]
Peruvian Pelican Species Factsheet
Gallery
File:Pelecanus thagus -Pan de Azucar National Park, Atacama Region, Chile -head-8.jpg, Peruvian pelican in Pan de Azúcar National Park
Pan de Azúcar National Park is a national park of Chile. The park straddles the border between the Antofagasta Region and the Atacama Region. Its name, ''Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar'', means "sugar loaf national park".
Geography
The park ...
, Chile
File:Peruvian pelican in Pan de Azucar National Park in Chile September 2009.jpg, Peruvian pelican in Pan de Azúcar National Park, Chile
File:Several Peruvian pelicans in Pan de Azucar National Park in Chile September 2009.jpg, Several Peruvian pelicans at the Caleta Pan de Azúcar fishing village in Pan de Azúcar National Park, Chile
File:Pelecanus_thagus_(Peruvian_Pelican_-_Chile-Pelikan)_-_Weltvogelpark_Walsrode_2012-02_cropped.jpg, A Peruvian pelican takes a bath at Weltvogelpark Walsrode
Weltvogelpark Walsrode, known as Walsrode Bird Park or Jubs in English until 2010, is a bird park located in the middle of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany within the municipality of Bomlitz near Walsrode in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany ...
, Germany
File:Pelecanus thagus in the Ballestas islands.jpg, Peruvian pelicans in the Ballestas Islands, Peru
File:Peruvian pelican in Paracas, Peru.jpg, Peruvian pelican in Paracas, Peru
References
External links
Mundo Azul Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q845979
Peruvian pelican
Peruvian pelican
Birds of Peru
Birds of Chile
Western South American coastal birds
Peruvian pelican