Mary Allen
Pelicans are the largest airborne waterfowl on earth: With their mighty shape and huge beak, they are unmistakable.
Characteristics
What does a white pelican look like?
Great white pelicans are waterfowl. They belong to the order of the copepods and there to the family of the pelicans.
The birds are really impressive: their body is up to 160 centimeters long and their wingspan is around 280 centimeters. They weigh nine to 14 kilograms, the females are significantly smaller than the males. Most striking is the up to 40 centimeters long beak with the throat pouch. But as big as it looks – the beak is very light because it is not solid but hollow. It is orange-pink in color with blue-grey sides and a yellow throat pouch.
The birds have a pink face patch around the eye. The legs are flesh-colored and the toes are webbed. Although they are called white pelicans, their plumage is white, the large flight feathers on the wings are black. The birds are only pink during the mating season. The preen gland, which contains the fat they use to groom their plumage to make it waterproof, then produces a pink pigment.
When pelicans groom their feathers, they spread this substance all over their bodies and then shimmer pink. The more pink a bird is, the more attractive it is to its peers. In the males, the skin around the eyes turns yellow-pink during the breeding season, and in the females, it turns bright orange. During this time, the animals also wear a tuft of feathers on their heads, which is up to 14 centimeters long in the males and much smaller in the females.
Where does the Great White Pelican live?
Great white pelicans are found from south-eastern Europe to central Asia and India, as well as in large parts of Africa.
In Europe, they mainly live in the Danube Delta, i.e. in the area where the Danube flows into the Black Sea in many branches. As aquatic birds, great white pelicans are found in habitats with swamps, shallow lakes, estuaries, lagoons, and on coasts. Humid and warm regions such as the Danube Delta are ideal for them.
What types of white pelican are there?
In addition to the pink pelican, the genus of pelicans includes seven other species. They are at home in different regions, but their lifestyle and behavior are quite similar. The spectacled pelican lives from Indonesia across Australia to the Fiji Islands. He is also colored white with black flight feathers, has a yellow-orange eye-ring and a pink throat pouch.
The Dalmatian Pelican can be found from south-eastern Europe through central Asia to western Mongolia. Like the pink pelican, it is one of the largest pelicans The rhinoceros pelican is found from the USA through Mexico to Central America. It has a beak up to seven centimeters high, hence its name.
The red-bellied pelican is widespread in Africa. It closely resembles the pink pelican but is smaller. As its name suggests, the brown pelican is brown in color and lives in North and South America. The gray pelican is one of the smallest pelican species, it is found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Chilean pelican has gray plumage. The red tip of its beak is striking. He lives on the Pacific coast of Chile and Peru.
How old does a white pelican get?
Great white pelicans live surprisingly long. In the wild, they live up to 40 years, in captivity even up to 50 years.
Behave
How does a white pelican live?
Great white pelicans are very social birds. They breed in colonies that can consist of several hundred or even several thousand animals. There is no order of precedence in these large colonies, the birds live together as equals. Every now and then there are arguments.
Great white pelicans adopt a typical posture when flying. They pull their heads back much like a heron. Because they take advantage of the thermals in the air and allow themselves to be carried upwards by the warm air currents, they can climb high and glide very elegantly in the air. Only occasionally do they move their wings. In this way, they can fly for up to 24 hours without a break, covering a distance of up to 500 kilometers.
However, the take-off of the heavy birds is somewhat difficult: To do this, they first have to make a real run-up and flap their wings vigorously in order to be able to climb into the air. But then they can fly very long and very far. Great white pelicans are migratory birds.
In Europe, most of the animals breed in the Danube Delta in Romania, as well as in Turkey and Greece. These birds fly to Northeast Africa in winter and spend the cold season there. Outside of their breeding areas, white pelicans are rarely seen in Europe. Great white pelicans are perfect fishermen. Like a landing net, they catch fish with their throat pouch while swimming in the water. This throat pouch holds up to 13 liters of water – that’s more than a large bucket full.