BIRDS: NONPASSERINES: PELICANS

FL_American_White_Pelican.tif

American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Family Pelecanidae (Pelicans)

Size: 62"

Season: Spring and fall migrations

Habitat: Open freshwater lakes and rivers

One of North America’s largest birds, the American white pelican has a wingspan of more than 9 feet. It is white overall, with black flight feathers. The massive bill is orange, with a membranous, expandable throat pouch. In posture the pelican holds its neck in a characteristic strong kink and its folded wings in a peak along its back. It often feeds in cooperative groups, herding fish as they swim and scooping them up by dipping their bills in the water. The white pelican never plunge-dives like the brown pelican. When breeding, a strange horny growth appears on the upper mandible in both sexes. The nonbreeding adult is illustrated.