 A huge, mostly white bird with short legs
and a massive, broad and very long bill. The enormous Great white Pelican is a waterbird,
largely white, with contrasting black flight feathers on the wings. In the breeding
season, the Great White Pelican takes on a pinkish flush and there is usually a yellow
wash on the breast. There is an area of bare, pink skin around the eye and the enormous
bill and pouch skin are yellow. The legs and feet are pink or yellowish and the feet are
fully webbed. Juvenile birds are duller than adults and are greyish-brown with brown
flight feathers on the wings.
Name: Pelecanus onocrotalus
Habitat: Found on large inland waters, and on the coast.
Distribution: Widespread in Africa except in the equatorial lowland
forests in the West and in the very arid areas of eastern Somalia.
Size: 138 - 180 cm
Diet: Fish and some crustaceans
Socialisation: Great White Pelicans are gregarious birds and large flocks
often fish togther encircling and trapping shoals of fish in shallow water where all the
birds are easily able to scoop up fish in the skin pouch below the bill. They are
excellent swimmers and also good fliers.
Reproduction: White Pelicans usually nest in colonies situated on an island, or
remote parts of a large pan. The nest is a stick structure placed on the ground.
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