Birds of the World

    PELECANIFORMES: Pelecanidae (Pelicans)  
Genus: Pelecanus (8 species)


Australian Pelican
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
Range: AU: inland Australia and Tasmania
Edwards River, Deniliquin, NSW, Australia  
 
Photograph by Patrick Kavanagh     Copyright and usage info


Dalmatian Pelican
Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) Near Threatened
Range: PAL: inland se Europe to Kazakhstan and w Mongolia, s to Turkey and Xinjiang (w China)
Antwerp Zoo, Belgium  
 
Photograph by Hans Hillewaert     Copyright and usage info


American White Pelican
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
Range: NA: inland sc British Columbia and ne Alberta to wc Ontario (sw, sc Canada) to c California and Texas (sw, sc USA)
Costa Rica  
   
Photograph by Jorge Obando Gutierrez   © Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.

Much larger than the more common Brown Pelican.


Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis)
Range: NA, MA, SA: coastal s California to Ecuador including Galápagos (e Pacific Ocean); Maryland through Caribbean (w North Atlantic Ocean)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Often seen along the shore diving into schools of small fish with bill wide open.
Perched, cleaning, with breeding colors.
On water.
A dive at point of impact with water.

Great White Pelican
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Range: PAL, AF: patchily inland e Europe to e Kazakhstan; Sub-Saharan Africa
South Africa  
 
Photograph by Graham Searll   © All Rights Reserved.


Spot-billed Pelican
Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) Near Threatened
Range: OR: inland se India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and (?) Sumatra; extinct Philippines
Thailand  
 
Photograph by Daniel Koh (Singapore)   © All Rights Reserved.


Pink-backed Pelican
Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens)
Range: AF: inland se Egypt, w, sw Arabian Pen., and Africa s of the Sahara; formerly also Madagascar and St. Joseph's Atoll (Amirantes group, nc Seychelles)
Kenya  
 
Photograph by Steve Riall   © All Rights Reserved.


Peruvian Pelican
Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus) Near Threatened
Range: SA: coastal n Peru to c Chile
Paracas, Peru
  Similar but larger than the Brown Pelican.
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Very similar to the Brown Pelican of the northern hemisphere, but quite a bit larger.


© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba