Pelican Bird

What is a pelican bird?

Pelican birds are known as waterfowl belonging to the Pelican family, and this type of bird is characterized by having a large and flexible throat pocket, as these pockets are used to search for and hunt food, and these birds are spread in most parts of the world in lakes, rivers and sea coasts.

Pelicans are one of the largest species of living birds, as the length of a pelican can reach about 1.8 m, and its wingspan also reaches about 3 m, while the weight of pelicans can reach approximately 13 kg, and it is worth noting that Male pelicans are slightly larger than females and have a longer beak.

Types of pelicans

Pelicans were found on the surface of the earth more than 40 million years ago, and here comes a mention of the types of pelicans:

brown pelican

It is the smallest species of pelican, and this species is endemic to the beaches extending from Washington and Cape Cod to the mouth of the Amazon River, and this type of pelican is distinguished by its brown color.

Peruvian pelican

The Peruvian pelican is endemic to the western coast of North America. This species is also distinguished by its dark color, in addition to a white stripe that extends from the bottom of the neck to the crown and down the sides of the neck.

American white pelican

It is a very large species of pelican, and the American white pelican is distinguished by its white color and the tips of its wings that appear black, in addition to its orange beak. This species lives in fresh and salt water lakes in inland North America.

white swans

The white pelican is widespread in swamps and shallow lakes from southeastern Europe through Asia. This species is pure white with a bare pink face patch around the eye and pink legs.

Dalmatian pelican

The Dalmatian pelican spreads in southeastern Europe through Asia to China, and this species is distinguished by its gray color, and it is a large species of pelican.

The swans are pink-backed

This species is endemic to the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa, Madagascar and southern Arabia. It is also a small pelican species, and is distinguished by its gray and white color with a pink back.

Positional beaked pelicans

It is one of the small swans that live in South Asia from India to Indonesia, and this type is characterized by its white color with a gray neck, tail and head.

Australian pelican

The Australian pelican is spread in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia and New Guinea, and is distinguished by its medium size, in addition to its white color and white and black wings.

Pelican feeding

The pelican feeds mainly on fish, in addition to that it can eat mollusks, amphibians, crustaceans, and small birds, and pelicans catch their prey by submerging the throat pocket in water and picking up food, then filtering the pocket from the water before swallowing the food, and this process usually takes about a minute one.

Pelicans hunt their prey in groups, where these birds form a team to pursue and catch fish, and it is worth noting that the brown pelican dives under water to obtain food and to catch prey.