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4

Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) Alternate name(s): "White Pelican", "Eastern White Pelican", "Rosy Pelican" German name(s): "Rosapelikan" Size: 1.4-1.8 m (incl. bill 29-47 cm); wing span 2.25-3.6 m Weight: 9-15 kg (male); 5.4-9 kg (female)

Europe: Family Group 4 Family Group 4 Table Great Cormorant European Shag Pygmy Cormorant Northern Gannet Brown Booby Great White Pelican Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Great White Pelicans are amongst the largest pelicans overall. Despite their name, their plumage is pinkish, rather than plain white. The chest can have yellowish-ochre tints. The head and wings are lightest, off-white. With folded wings the black flight feathers, which show on both upperwing and underwing, are invisible. During the breeding season, Great White Pelicans grow a flowing nuchal crest. In eclipse the crest is missing. They have pink skin patches around the dark, "beady" eyes. The very large bill has a grey upper mandible and a yellow-ochre pouch on the lower mandible. The legs and feet are fleshy-pink, sometimes also yellowish. First-year Great White Pelicans have greyish-brown, scalloped wing coverts and grey tail feathers.

Taxonomy, classification See Great White Pelican at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Great White Pelican is available HERE . Great White Pelicans are a partly migratory species that is found primarily in Africa, South of the Sahara desert, mostly in the eastern part of the continent, where part of the population is sedentary, but also on the West coast. During the northern summers parts of the population migrate to their breeding grounds, which are scattered in a large area from the eastern Mediterranean in the West to Vietnam in the East. Parts of the Eurasian breeding population also winter in the Euphrates/Tigris delta, others stay on lakes near Adana in southern Turkey and in the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Mostly the migratory Great White Pelicans are found also in brackish water, e.g. in estuaries, whereas the sedentary African population stays near fresh water. In Europe Great White Pelicans are found as breeding migrants in only a few locations, namely on the fresh water lakes in the border region of Greece, Albania and Macedonia, in the Black Sea deltas of the Danube and the Dnjepr rivers and on the Proletarskoye Reservoir of the Manych river in southern Russia. The majority of the Eurasian population breeds in the Danube delta. Great White Pelicans can be found in fresh water habitats such as swamps and lakes, also in brackish water in the estuaries of major rivers, but not in pure salt water.

Sightings Click here for sighting information D. Wilczynska reports spotting Great White Pelicans on the island of Malta. The photos shown below was obtained in Africa by D. Wilczynska and in St. James's Park, London, England, by M. Eaton.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Frontal view of an adult Great White Pelican; the yellow tinge indicates that this bird is in breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Near-frontal view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Frontal view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Near-lateral view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Lateral view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

NON-BREEDING

Great White Pelicans resting on a mudbank in a fresh water lake (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of an adult Great White Pelican in breeding plumage, right, with a second-year sub-adult, left
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Lateral view of a (first-year) juvenile Great White Pelican; note the grey wing coverts (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Near-dorsal view of two juvenile Great White Pelicans (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Food, Diet

Great White Pelicans fishing together (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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