The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a North American bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae. It is one of three pelican species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving in water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to northern Chile, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
Characteristics[]
The brown pelican is about four feet in length. It has a brown and gray body and a white head with a light brown crown. Its neck is dark brown during breeding season. Young pelicans are all brown. The brown pelican has a very long gray bill with a large pouch of skin. Its pouch holds two or three times more than its stomach can hold -- close to three gallons of fish and water! Males and females look the same.
Range and Habitat[]
The brown pelican can be found on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts. On the Atlantic Coast, it can be found from North Carolina south to Venezuela. On the Pacific Coast, its range stretches from Southern California to Chile. After nesting season, it can be found as far north as British Columbia and Nova Scotia. The brown pelican can be found in coastal areas like sandy beaches and lagoons. It can also be found around waterfronts and marinas
Behavior[]
The brown pelican is a very gregarious bird; it lives in flocks of both sexes throughout the year. In level flight, brown pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders and their bills resting on their folded necks. They may fly in a V formation, but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface. To exclude water from the nasal passage, they have narrower internal regions of the nostrils.
Diet[]
The brown pelican is a piscivore, primarily feeding on fish. Menhaden may account for 90% of its diet and the anchovy supply is particularly important to the brown pelican's nesting success. Other fish preyed on with some regularity includes pigfish, pinfish, herring, sheepshead, silversides, mullets, sardines, and minnows. Non-fish prey includes crustaceans, especially prawns and it occasionally feeds on amphibians.
Life Cycle[]
The male brown pelican selects a nesting site and then tries to attract a female with a display behavior of head movements. Once a female selects a male, the male will bring her sticks, reeds and grass for the nest. The female accepts the materials with a sway of her head and then weaves them into the nest. It can take over a week to build the nest. The nest can be built on the ground, in a tree or in a bush.
The female lays two to three eggs a few days after the nest is completed. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the young. The eggs are incubated in an unusual way. The pelican will put its webbed feet over the eggs to keep them warm.
The chicks hatch after about a month. For the first 10 days after hatching, the parents will leave regurgitated food on the bottom of the nest for the chicks to eat. After that, the chicks eat regurgitated food directly from their parents' bills. If the nest is on the ground, it may be a simple scrape in the ground or it may be made of sticks, reeds and grass like a tree nest. the chicks will walk around outside the nest when they are about a month old. If the nest is in a tree, the chicks will leave the nest when they are between two and three months old.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Brown pelican in flight (Bodega Bay).jpg (3.56 MB)")
.png "Pelican (Wild Kratts).png (180 KB)")
