Includes Galapagos Brown Pelican
- Pelecanus occidentalis
Identification
Smallest of the pelicans.
L. 105–152 cm (41¼-59¾ in)
W. 1.83-2.5 m (6 to 8.2 ft)
Weight 2.75-5.5 kg (6-12 lbs)
Breeding plumage, nominate race
- Golden to creamy-yellow head, which then turns white
Younger birds are less strongly colored with pale belly
Similar Species
Can be told from the American White Pelican by its brown body and their different feeding habits Brown Pelican never show the contrast of black flight feathers to white wing linings seen from a flying American White Pelican.
Peruvian Pelican is a much larger species where the silvery patch on the upper-wing coverts is separated from the body by a dark area on the inner wing; Peruvian Pelican also has a paler body.
Distribution
Washington and Virginia south to Peru (and probably northern Chile) and the mouth of the Amazon River. Post-breeding, North American birds move northwards in flocks along the coasts, returning south for the winter.
One of the subspecies is limited to Galapagos and has sometimes been called Galapagos Brown Pelican.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- P. o. occidentalis (Caribbean)
- West Indies and Caribbean to islands off Venezuela
- P. o. carolinensis (Atlantic);
- Locally on Atlantic coast of southern North America
- P. o. californicus (California):
- Anacapa Island and islands off Baja and in Gulf of California
- P. o. murphyi:
- Pacific coast of north-western South America from Colombia to Peru and probably northern Chile
- P. o. urinator:
Peruvian Pelican has been split from Brown Pelican.
Habitat
At sea close to coasts, coastal lagoons, and saltmarshes. Immature birds occasionally seen at inland lakes.
Behaviour
Groups of Brown Pelicans often travel in single file, flying low over the water's surface.
Diet
Mainly herring-like fish.
They feed individually, diving for fish.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Subspecies carolinensis, breeding plumage
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Private boat dock. Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, USA, March 2019
Immature exhibiting "glottis exposure behavior
Photo © by Joseph Morlan
Santa Cruz, California, USA, 16 September 2020
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdForum Member observations
- Shields, M. (2020). Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.brnpel.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Pelican. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Pelican
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
