American White Pelican

Pelecanus erythrorhynchosOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Pelicans (Pelecanidae)

Codes: Common Name: AWPE Scientific Name: PELERY ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174684

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

American White Pelican: Huge, white seabird, enormous outstretched wings show black primaries, outer secondaries in flight. Bill, legs are bright orange, upper bill develops a fibrous keel during breeding season. Slow, deep wing beats. Soars high on thermals. Flies in straight line or V formation.

Range and Habitat

American White Pelican: Breeds from British Columbia and Mackenzie south to northern California, Utah, and Manitoba; also breeds along the Gulf Coast. Spends winters in the southern U.S. south to Panama. Preferred habitats include shallow lakes and coastal lagoons.

Topo Map: Duck-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"croak, croak, croak"

Interesting Facts

American white pelicans are one of the largest of the boreal birds. They can weigh as much as 30 pounds and their wing spans can exceed nine feet.

The bill can hold 3 gallons of water, and after the fish have been caught the bill is pointed downward allowing the water to drain, and then the bill is raised and the bird swallows.

Because of pesticides, human disturbance, and the draining of wetlands, this species is in decline. The number of active colonies has dropped sharply in recent decades.

A group of pelicans has many collective nouns, including a "brief", "pod", "pouch", "scoop", and "squadron" of pelicans.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Related Birds

Wood Stork
Brown Pelican
Blue-footed Booby
Red-footed Booby
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Northern Gannet

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

American White Pelican

● Song: "croak, croak, croak"

● Foraging & Feeding: American White Pelican: Feeds mostly on fish while swimming, snatching prey with large bill; groups may concentrate prey by herding. An adult pelican can consume up to 4 lbs of food each day. Unlike the Brown Pelican, this bird does not plunge dive for food.

● Breeding & nesting: American White Pelican: Nests in colonies, laying one or two white eggs on a low mound built from mud and debris. Nesting colonies are usually located on marshy islands, but occasionally on rocky islands in desert lakes. Incubation ranges from 29 to 36 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: American White Pelican: Wood Stork has a black tail, a dark, featherless head and neck, and long legs that trail beyond tail in flight. Brown Pelican has gray-brown upperparts, dark wings, and a darker bill. It also plunge dives for fish while flying.

Flight Pattern

Strong, slow deep wing beats.

American White Pelican Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: American White Pelican: Breeds from British Columbia and Mackenzie south to northern California, Utah, and Manitoba; also breeds along the Gulf Coast. Spends winters in the southern U.S. south to Panama. Preferred habitats include shallow lakes and coastal lagoons.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationFairly common to common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight246.4 Ounces

Duck-like Body

Outer secondaries

The outer secondaries are the secondary feathers of the wing furthest away from the body.

Primaries

The primaries are the flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.

Secondaries

Flight feathers that are attached to the wing in the area similar to the human forearm and between the body and the primaries.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America