From Opus

Coming into breeding plumage
Photo by Leslie
Westlake Village, California, USA, January 2004

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

[edit] Identification

55-70" (1.4-1.8 m). W. 8' (2.4 m)

• A huge white bird
• Long flat bill
• Black wing tips.
  

Breeding: has short yellowish crest on back of head and horny plate on upper mandible.
At the end of the breeding season they undergo a few changes to the alternate plumage appearance. The "horn" often seen on the upper mandible is lost, and many birds show short gray feathers on the crown and nape, which is described as Supplemental plumage.
Young birds duskier than adults.

Supplemental Plumage
Photo by blubird
Las Gallinas, San Rafael, California, July 2008

[edit] Distribution

Breeds from British Columbia and Mackenzie south to northern California, Utah, and Manitoba; also along Texas Gulf Coast. Winters from central California, Gulf Coast, and Florida south to Panama.
Annual vagrant to most states in the northeast and along the east coast.

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic.^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Shallow lakes, coastal lagoons, brackish ponds and marshes.

Photo by kmdipaolo
West Alton, Missouri, April 2008

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

They work cooperatively in small groups, herding fish into shallow water and then scooping them up in their gigantic 3-gallon pouches.

[edit] Breeding

1-6 whitish eggs on a low mound of earth and debris on a marshy island; occasionally on rocky islands in desert lakes. Nests in colonies.
The plate-like growth(s) on the upper mandible are shed after the eggs are laid.

[edit] Vocalisation

They are mostly silent but will make croaking noises on the breeding grounds.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. enature

• List of references

[edit] External Links