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Pelican

Pelicans (genus Pelecanus) are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all pelicans become brightly coloured before the breeding season.

Pelican
Temporal range: late Eocene-Recent, 36–0 Ma [1]Possible an early origin based on molecular clock[2]
A great white pelican in breeding condition flying over Walvis Bay, Namibia.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Pelecanidae
Genus: Pelecanus
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Pelecanus onocrotalus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

8, see text

The eight living pelican species have a patchy, seasonally-dependent yet global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone. Pelicans are absent from interior Amazonian South America, from polar regions and the open ocean; at least one species is known to migrate to the inland desert of Australia's Red Centre, after heavy rains create temporary lakes. White pelicans are also observed at the American state of Utah's Great Salt Lake, for example, some 600 miles (965 km) from the nearest coastline (the Pacific West Coast). They have also been seen hundreds of miles inland in North America, having flown northwards along the Mississippi River and other large waterways.

Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, and gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop storks (although these two birds are not actually true 'storks'), and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills, herons, and bitterns have been classified in the same order. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 36 million years to the remains of a tibiotarsus recovered from late Eocene strata of Egypt that bears striking similarity to modern species of pelican.[1] They are thought to have evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas; this is reflected in the relationships within the genus as the eight species divide into Old World and New World lineages.[3] This hypothesis is supported by fossil evidence from the oldest pelican taxa.[1]

Pelicans at National Zoo, Bangladesh

Pelicans will frequent inland waterways but are most known for residing along maritime and coastal zones, where they feed principally on fish in their large throat pouches, diving into the water and catching them at/near the water's surface. They can adapt to varying degrees of water salinity, from freshwater and brackish to—most commonly—seawater. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively, and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees.[4] The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing.[5] Their populations have fallen through habitat destruction, disturbance, and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.

Taxonomy and systematics

Etymology

The name comes from the Ancient Greek word pelekan (πελεκάν),[6] which is itself derived from the word pelekys (πέλεκυς) meaning "axe".[7] In classical times, the word was applied to both the pelican and the woodpecker.[8]

The genus Pelecanus was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet. This early definition included frigatebirds, cormorants, and sulids, as well as pelicans.[9]

Taxonomy

The family Pelecanidae was introduced (as Pelicanea) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815.[10][11] Pelicans give their name to the Pelecaniformes, an order which has a varied taxonomic history. Tropicbirds, darters, cormorants, gannets, boobies, and frigatebirds, all traditional members of the order, have since been reclassified: tropicbirds into their own order, Phaethontiformes, and the remainder into the Suliformes. In their place, herons, ibises, spoonbills, the hamerkop, and the shoebill have now been transferred into the Pelecaniformes.[12] Molecular evidence suggests that the shoebill and the hamerkop form a sister group to the pelicans,[13] though some doubt exists as to the exact relationships among the three lineages.[14]

The oldest known record of Pelicans is a right tibiotarsus very similar to those of modern species from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Wadi El Hitan in Egypt, dating to the late Eocene (Priabonian), referred to the genus Eopelecanus.[1]

Evolutionary relationships among the extant species based on Kennedy et al. (2013).[3]

Suliformes

Pelecaniformes

Herons (Ardeidae)

Ibises and spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)

Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta)

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

Pelicans (Pelecanus)

Cladogram based on Hackett et al. (2008).[12]

Closest living relatives

Living species

The eight living pelican species were traditionally divided into two groups, one containing four ground-nesters with mainly white adult plumage (Australian, Dalmatian, great white, and American white pelicans), and one containing four grey- or brown-plumaged species which nest preferentially either in trees (pink-backed, spot-billed and brown pelicans), or on sea rocks (Peruvian pelican). The largely marine brown and Peruvian pelicans, formerly considered conspecific,[4] are sometimes separated from the others by placement in the subgenus Leptopelecanus[15] but in fact species with both sorts of appearance and nesting behavior are found in either.

DNA sequencing of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes yielded quite different relationships; the three New World pelicans formed one lineage, with the American white pelican sister to the two brown pelicans, and the five Old World species the other. The Dalmatian, pink-backed, and spot-billed were all closely related to one another, while the Australian white pelican was their next-closest relative. The great white pelican also belonged to this lineage, but was the first to diverge from the common ancestor of the other four species. This finding suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas, and that preference for tree- or ground-nesting is more related to size than genetics.[3]

Living species of Pelecanus
Common and binomial names[16] Image Description Range and status
American white pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Gmelin, 1789
 
Length 1.3–1.8 m (4.3–5.9 ft), wingspan 2.44–2.9 m (8.0–9.5 ft), weight 5–9 kg (10–20 lb).[17] Plumage almost entirely white, except for black primary and secondary remiges only visible in flight. Monotypic. Breeds in inland Canada and United States, wintering in southern United States, Mexico and Central America.[18][19] Status: least concern.[18]
Brown pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
Linnaeus, 1766
 
Length up to 1.4 m (4.6 ft), wingspan 2–2.3 m (6.6–7.5 ft), weight 3.6–4.5 kg (7.9–9.9 lb).[20] Smallest pelican; distinguished by brown plumage; feeds by plunge-diving.[21] Five subspecies. Coastal distribution ranging from North America and the Caribbean to northern South America and the Galapagos.[22] Status: least concern.[23]
Peruvian pelican
Pelecanus thagus
Molina, 1782
 
Length up to 1.52 m (5.0 ft), wingspan 2.48 m (8.1 ft),[24] average weight 7 kg (15 lb).[25] Dark with a white stripe from the crown down the sides of the neck. Monotypic. Pacific Coast of South America from Ecuador and Peru south through to southern Chile.[22] Status: near threatened.[26]
Great white pelican
Pelecanus onocrotalus
Linnaeus, 1758
 
Length 1.40–1.75 m (4.6–5.7 ft), wingspan 2.45–2.95 m (8.0–9.7 ft), weight 10–11 kg (22–24 lb).[27][28] Plumage white, with pink facial patch and legs. Monotypic. Patchy distribution from eastern Mediterranean east to Indochina and Malay Peninsula, and south to South Africa.[22] Status: least concern.[29]
Australian pelican
Pelecanus conspicillatus
Temminck, 1824
 
Length 1.60–1.90 m (5.2–6.2 ft), wingspan 2.3–2.5 m (7.5–8.2 ft), weight 4–8.2 kg (8.8–18.1 lb).[30] Predominantly white with black along primaries and very large, pale pink bill. Monotypic. Australia and New Guinea; vagrant to New Zealand, Solomons, Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji and Wallacea.[22] Status: least concern.[31]
Pink-backed pelican
Pelecanus rufescens
Gmelin, 1789
 
Length 1.25–1.32 m (4.1–4.3 ft), wingspan 2.65–2.9 m (8.7–9.5 ft),[32] weight 3.9–7 kg (8.6–15.4 lb).[33] Grey and white plumage, occasionally pinkish on the back, with a yellow upper mandible and grey pouch.[32] Monotypic. Africa, Seychelles and southwestern Arabia;[22] extinct in Madagascar.[34] Status: least concern.[35]
Dalmatian pelican
Pelecanus crispus
Bruch, 1832
 
Length 1.60–1.80 m (5.2–5.9 ft), wingspan 2.70–3.20 m (8.9–10.5 ft), weight 10–12 kg (22–26 lb).[27][28] Largest pelican; differs from great white pelican in having curly nape feathers, grey legs and greyish-white plumage.[32] Monotypic. South-eastern Europe to India and China.[22] Status: near threatened.[36]
Spot-billed pelican
Pelecanus philippensis
Gmelin, 1789
 
Length 1.27–1.52 m (4.2–5.0 ft), wingspan 2.5 m (8.2 ft), weight c. 5 kg (11 lb).[37] Mainly grey-white all over, with a grey hindneck crest in breeding season, pinkish rump and spotted bill pouch.[37] Monotypic. Southern Asia from southern Pakistan across India east to Indonesia;[22] extinct in the Philippines and possibly eastern China.[37] Status: near threatened.[38]

Fossil record

The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 36 million years; the oldest known pelican fossil was assigned to Eopelecanus aegyptiacus and was found in late Eocene (middle to late part of the early Priabonian stage/age) deposits of the Birket Qarun Formation within the Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site in Egypt.[1] A more complete fossil pelican of early Oligocene age is known from deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France, and is remarkably similar to modern forms.[39] Its beak is almost complete and is morphologically identical to that of present-day pelicans, showing that this advanced feeding apparatus was already in existence at the time.[39] An Early Miocene fossil has been named Miopelecanus gracilis on the basis of certain features originally considered unique, but later thought to lie within the range of interspecific variation in Pelecanus.[39] The Late Eocene Protopelicanus may be a pelecaniform or suliform – or a similar aquatic bird such as a pseudotooth (Pelagornithidae), but is not generally considered a pelecanid.[40][1] The supposed Miocene pelican Liptornis from Patagonia is a nomen dubium (of doubtful validity), being based on fragments providing insufficient evidence to support a valid description.[41]

Fossil finds from North America have been meagre compared with Europe, which has a richer fossil record.[42] Several Pelecanus species have been described from fossil material, including:[43]

Description

 
A brown pelican opening mouth and inflating air sac to display tongue and some inner bill anatomy
 
American white pelican with knob which develops on bill before the breeding season
 
An adult brown pelican with a chick in a nest in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, US: This species will nest on the ground when no suitable trees are available.[49]
 
Australian pelican displaying the extent of its throat pouch (Lakes Entrance, Victoria)

Pelicans are very large birds with very long bills characterised by a downcurved hook at the end of the upper mandible, and the attachment of a huge gular pouch to the lower. The slender rami of the lower bill and the flexible tongue muscles form the pouch into a basket for catching fish, and sometimes rainwater,[15] though to not hinder the swallowing of large fish, the tongue itself is tiny.[50] They have a long neck and short stout legs with large, fully webbed feet. Although they are among the heaviest of flying birds,[51] they are relatively light for their apparent bulk because of air pockets in the skeleton and beneath the skin, enabling them to float high in the water.[15] The tail is short and square. The wings are long and broad, suitably shaped for soaring and gliding flight, and have the unusually large number of 30 to 35 secondary flight feathers.[52]

Males are generally larger than females and have longer bills.[15] The smallest species is the brown pelican, small individuals of which can be no more than 2.75 kg (6.1 lb) and 1.06 m (3.5 ft) long, with a wingspan of as little as 1.83 m (6.0 ft). The largest is believed to be the Dalmatian, at up to 15 kg (33 lb) and 1.83 m (6.0 ft) in length, with a maximum wingspan of 3 m (9.8 ft). The Australian pelican's bill may grow up to 0.5 m (1.6 ft) long in large males,[53] the longest of any bird.[4]

Pelicans have mainly light-coloured plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans.[54] The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all species become brighter before breeding season commences.[55] The throat pouch of the Californian subspecies of the brown pelican turns bright red, and fades to yellow after the eggs are laid, while the throat pouch of the Peruvian pelican turns blue. The American white pelican grows a prominent knob on its bill that is shed once females have laid eggs.[5] The plumage of immature pelicans is darker than that of adults.[54] Newly hatched chicks are naked and pink, darkening to grey or black after 4 to 14 days, then developing a covering of white or grey down.[56]

Air sacs

Anatomical dissections of two brown pelicans in 1939 showed that pelicans have a network of air sacs under their skin situated across the ventral surface including the throat, breast, and undersides of the wings, as well as having air sacs in their bones.[57] The air sacs are connected to the airways of the respiratory system, and the pelican can keep its air sacs inflated by closing its glottis, but how air sacs are inflated is not clear.[57] The air sacs serve to keep the pelican remarkably buoyant in the water[58] and may also cushion the impact of the pelican's body on the water surface when they dive from flight into water to catch fish.[57] Superficial air sacs may also help to round body contours (especially over the abdomen, where surface protuberances may be caused by viscera changing size and position) to enable the overlying feathers to form more effective heat insulation and also to enable feathers to be held in position for good aerodynamics.[57]

Distribution and habitat

Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45° South (Australian pelicans in Tasmania) and 60° North (American white pelicans in western Canada).[4] Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands (except the Galapagos), and inland South America, as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards.[15] Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand's South Island,[59] although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia (much as is the case today).[60]

Behaviour and ecology

 
An Australian pelican gliding with its large wings extended

Pelicans swim well with their strong legs and their webbed feet. They rub the backs of their heads on their preen glands to pick up an oily secretion, which they transfer to their plumage to waterproof it.[4] Holding their wings only loosely against their bodies, pelicans float with relatively little of their bodies below the water surface.[32] They dissipate excess heat by gular flutter – rippling the skin of the throat and pouch with the bill open to promote evaporative cooling.[15] They roost and loaf communally on beaches, sandbanks, and in shallow water.[15]

A fibrous layer deep in the breast muscles can hold the wings rigidly horizontal for gliding and soaring. Thus, they use thermals for soaring to heights of 3000 m (10,000 ft) or more,[61] combined both with gliding and with flapping flight in V formation, to commute distances up to 150 km (93 mi) to feeding areas.[4] Pelicans also fly low (or "skim") over stretches of water, using a phenomenon known as ground effect to reduce drag and increase lift. As the air flows between the wings and the water surface, it is compressed to a higher density and exerts a stronger upward force against the bird above.[62] Hence, substantial energy is saved while flying.[63]

Adult pelicans rely on visual displays and behaviour to communicate,[64] particularly using their wings and bills. Agonistic behaviour consists of thrusting and snapping at opponents with their bills, or lifting and waving their wings in a threatening manner.[65] Adult pelicans grunt when at the colony, but are generally silent elsewhere or outside breeding season.[32][66][67][68] Conversely, colonies are noisy, as chicks vocalise extensively.[64]

Breeding and lifespan

 
A spot-billed pelican nesting colony at Uppalapadu, India: This species builds nests in trees.
 
A spot-billed pelican feeding a juvenile in a nest in a tree at Garapadu, India
 
A nesting colony of Australian pelicans on the coast of New South Wales, Australia: This species nests on the ground.
 
Pelicans at Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States

Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially. Pairs are monogamous for a single season, but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area; mates are independent away from the nest. The ground-nesting (white) species have a complex communal courtship involving a group of males chasing a single female in the air, on land, or in the water while pointing, gaping, and thrusting their bills at each other. They can finish the process in a day. The tree-nesting species have a simpler process in which perched males advertise for females.[4] The location of the breeding colony is constrained by the availability of an ample supply of fish to eat, although pelicans can use thermals to soar and commute for hundreds of kilometres daily to fetch food.[55]

The Australian pelican has two reproductive strategies depending on the local degree of environmental predictability. Colonies of tens or hundreds, rarely thousands, of birds breed regularly on small coastal and subcoastal islands where food is seasonally or permanently available. In arid inland Australia, especially in the endorheic Lake Eyre basin, pelicans breed opportunistically in very large numbers of up to 50,000 pairs, when irregular major floods, which may be many years apart, fill ephemeral salt lakes and provide large amounts of food for several months before drying out again.[61]

In all species, copulation takes place at the nest site; it begins shortly after pairing and continues for 3–10 days before egg-laying. The male brings the nesting material, in ground-nesting species (which may not build a nest) sometimes in the pouch, and in tree-nesting species crosswise in the bill. The female then heaps the material up to form a simple structure.[4]

The eggs are oval, white, and coarsely textured.[15] All species normally lay at least two eggs; the usual clutch size is one to three, rarely up to six.[15] Both sexes incubate with the eggs on top of or below the feet; they may display when changing shifts. Incubation takes 30–36 days;[15] hatching success for undisturbed pairs can be as high as 95%, but because of sibling competition or siblicide, in the wild, usually all but one nestling dies within the first few weeks (later in the pink-backed and spot-billed species). Both parents feed their young. Small chicks are fed by regurgitation; after about a week, they are able to put their heads into their parents' pouches and feed themselves.[56] Sometimes before, but especially after being fed the pelican chick may seem to "throw a tantrum" by loudly vocalizing and dragging itself around in a circle by one wing and leg, striking its head on the ground or anything nearby and the tantrums sometimes end in what looks like a seizure that results in the chick falling briefly unconscious; the reason is not clearly known, but a common belief is that it is to draw attention to itself and away from any siblings who are waiting to be fed.[4]

Parents of ground-nesting species sometimes drag older young around roughly by the head before feeding them. From about 25 days old,[15] the young of these species gather in "pods" or "crèches" of up to 100 birds in which parents recognise and feed only their own offspring. By 6–8 weeks they wander around, occasionally swimming, and may practise communal feeding.[4] Young of all species fledge 10–12 weeks after hatching. They may remain with their parents afterwards, but are now seldom or never fed. They are mature at three or four years old.[15] Overall breeding success is highly variable.[4] Pelicans live for 15 to 25 years in the wild, although one reached an age of 54 years in captivity.[55]

Feeding

The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish,[55] but occasionally amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds, and mammals are also eaten.[69][70][71] The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location. For example, in Africa, the pink-backed pelican generally takes fish ranging in size from fry up to 400 g (0.9 lb) and the great white pelican prefers somewhat larger fish, up to 600 g (1.3 lb), but in Europe, the latter species has been recorded taking fish up to 1,850 g (4.1 lb).[71] In deep water, white pelicans often fish alone. Nearer the shore, several encircle schools of small fish or form a line to drive them into the shallows, beating their wings on the water surface and then scooping up the prey.[72] Although all pelican species may feed in groups or alone, the Dalmatian, pink-backed, and spot-billed pelicans are the only ones to prefer solitary feeding. When fishing in groups, all pelican species have been known to work together to catch their prey, and Dalmatian pelicans may even cooperate with great cormorants.[71]

Brown pelicans diving into the sea to catch fish in Jamaica

Large fish are caught with the bill-tip, then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head-first. A gull will sometimes stand on the pelican's head, peck it to distraction, and grab a fish from the open bill.[73] Pelicans in their turn sometimes snatch prey from other waterbirds.[4]

The brown pelican usually plunge-dives head-first for its prey, from a height as great as 10–20 m (33–66 ft), especially for anchovies and menhaden.[74][72][71] The only other pelican to feed using a similar technique is the Peruvian pelican, but its dives are typically from a lower height than the brown pelican.[75] The Australian and American white pelicans may feed by low plunge-dives landing feet-first and then scooping up the prey with the beak, but they—as well as the remaining pelican species—primarily feed while swimming on the water.[71] Aquatic prey is most commonly taken at or near the water surface.[54] Although principally a fish eater, the Australian pelican is also an eclectic and opportunistic scavenger and carnivore that forages in landfill sites, as well as taking carrion[76] and "anything from insects and small crustaceans to ducks and small dogs".[76] Food is not stored in a pelican's throat pouch, contrary to popular folklore.[55]

Pelicans may also eat birds. In southern Africa, eggs and chicks of the Cape cormorant are an important food source for great white pelicans.[71] Several other bird species have been recorded in the diet of this pelican in South Africa, including Cape gannet chicks on Malgas Island[77] as well as crowned cormorants, kelp gulls, greater crested terns, and African penguins on Dassen Island and elsewhere.[78] The Australian pelican, which is particularly willing to take a wide range of prey items, has been recorded feeding on young Australian white ibis, and young and adult grey teals and silver gulls.[71][79] Brown pelicans have been reported preying on young common murres in California and the eggs and nestlings of cattle egrets and nestling great egrets in Baja California, Mexico.[80] Peruvian pelicans in Chile have been recorded feeding on nestlings of imperial shags, juvenile Peruvian diving petrels, and grey gulls.[81][82] Cannibalism of chicks of their own species is known from the Australian, brown, and Peruvian pelicans.[79][80][82] Non-native great white pelicans have been observed swallowing city pigeons in St. James's Park in London, England.[70]

Status and conservation

Populations

Globally, pelican populations are adversely affected by these main factors: declining supplies of fish through overfishing or water pollution, destruction of habitat, direct effects of human activity such as disturbance at nesting colonies, hunting and culling, entanglement in fishing lines and hooks, and the presence of pollutants such as DDT and endrin. Most species' populations are more or less stable, although three are classified by the IUCN as being at risk. All species breed readily in zoos, which is potentially useful for conservation management.[83]

 
Pelecanus occidentalis, Tortuga Bay, Island of Santa Cruz, Galápagos

The combined population of brown and Peruvian pelicans is estimated at 650,000 birds, with around 250,000 in the United States and Caribbean, and 400,000 in Peru.[a] The National Audubon Society estimates the global population of the brown pelican at 300,000.[85] Numbers of brown pelican plummeted in the 1950s and 1960s, largely as a consequence of environmental DDT pollution, and the species was listed as endangered in the US in 1970. With restrictions on DDT use in the US from 1972, its population has recovered, and it was delisted in 2009.[84][86]

The Peruvian pelican is listed as near threatened because, although the population is estimated by BirdLife International to exceed 500,000 mature individuals, and is possibly increasing, it has been much higher in the past. It declined dramatically during the 1998 El Niño event and could experience similar declines in the future. Conservation needs include regular monitoring throughout the range to determine population trends, particularly after El Niño years, restricting human access to important breeding colonies, and assessing interactions with fisheries.[87]

The spot-billed pelican has an estimated population between 13,000 and 18,000 and is considered to be near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Numbers declined substantially during the 20th century, one crucial factor being the eradication of the important Sittaung valley breeding colony in Burma through deforestation and the loss of feeding sites.[88] The chief threats it faces are from habitat loss and human disturbance, but populations have mostly stabilised following increased protection in India and Cambodia.[38]

The pink-backed pelican has a large population ranging over much of sub-Saharan Africa. In the absence of substantial threats or evidence of declines across its range, its conservation status is assessed as being of least concern. Regional threats include the drainage of wetlands and increasing disturbance in southern Africa. The species is susceptible to bioaccumulation of toxins and the destruction of nesting trees by logging.[89]

The American white pelican has increased in numbers,[5] with its population estimated at over 157,000 birds in 2005, becoming more numerous east of the continental divide, while declining in the west.[90] However, whether its numbers have been affected by exposure to pesticides is unclear, as it has also lost habitat through wetland drainage and competition with recreational use of lakes and rivers.[5]

 
Great white pelicans loafing in Kenya

Great white pelicans range over a large area of Africa and southern Asia. The overall trend in numbers is uncertain, with a mix of regional populations that are increasing, declining, stable, or unknown, but no evidence has been found of rapid overall decline, and the status of the species is assessed as being of least concern. Threats include the drainage of wetlands, persecution and sport hunting, disturbance at the breeding colonies, and contamination by pesticides and heavy metals.[91]

The Dalmatian pelican has a population estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 following massive declines in the 19th and 20th centuries. The main ongoing threats include hunting, especially in eastern Asia, disturbance, coastal development, collision with overhead power lines, and the over-exploitation of fish stocks.[92] It is listed as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as the population trend is downwards, especially in Mongolia, where it is nearly extinct. However, several European colonies are increasing in size and the largest colony for the species, at the Small Prespa Lake in Greece, has reached about 1,400 breeding pairs following conservation measures.[36]

Widespread across Australia,[5] the Australian pelican has a population generally estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000 individuals.[93] Overall population numbers fluctuate widely and erratically depending on wetland conditions and breeding success across the continent. The species is assessed as being of least concern.[94]

Culling and disturbance

Pelicans have been persecuted by humans for their perceived competition for fish, despite the fact that their diet overlaps little with fish caught by people.[5] Starting in the 1880s, American white pelicans were clubbed and shot, their eggs and young were deliberately destroyed, and their feeding and nesting sites were degraded by water management schemes and wetland drainage.[5] Even in the 21st century, an increase in the population of American white pelicans in southeastern Idaho in the US was seen to threaten the recreational cutthroat trout fishery there, leading to official attempts to reduce pelican numbers through systematic harassment and culling.[95]

Great white pelicans on Dyer Island, in the Western Cape region of South Africa, were culled during the 19th century because their predation of the eggs and chicks of guano-producing seabirds was seen to threaten the livelihood of the guano collectors.[78] More recently, such predation at South African seabird colonies has impacted on the conservation of threatened seabird populations, especially crowned cormorants, Cape cormorants, and bank cormorants. This has led to suggestions that pelican numbers should be controlled at vulnerable colonies.[78]

Apart from habitat destruction and deliberate, targeted persecution, pelicans are vulnerable to disturbance at their breeding colonies by birdwatchers, photographers, and other curious visitors. Human presence alone can cause the birds to accidentally displace or destroy their eggs, leave hatchlings exposed to predators and adverse weather, or even abandon their colonies completely.[96][97][98]

Poisoning and pollution

 
Brown pelicans, covered with oil, after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010
 
Oiled brown pelican being washed at a rescue center in Fort Jackson, 2010

DDT pollution in the environment was a major cause of decline of brown pelican populations in North America in the 1950s and 1960s. It entered the oceanic food web, contaminating and accumulating in several species, including one of the pelican's primary food fish – the northern anchovy. Its metabolite DDE is a reproductive toxicant in pelicans and many other birds, causing eggshell thinning and weakening, and consequent breeding failure through the eggs being accidentally crushed by brooding birds. Since an effective ban on the use of DDT was implemented in the US in 1972, the eggshells of breeding brown pelicans there have thickened and their populations have largely recovered.[74][99]

In the late 1960s, following the major decline in brown pelican numbers in Louisiana from DDT poisoning, 500 pelicans were imported from Florida to augment and re-establish the population; over 300 subsequently died in April and May 1975 from poisoning by the pesticide endrin.[100] About 14,000 pelicans, including 7500 American white pelicans, perished from botulism after eating fish from the Salton Sea in 1990.[5] In 1991, abnormal numbers of brown pelicans and Brandt's cormorants died at Santa Cruz, California, when their food fish (anchovies) were contaminated with neurotoxic domoic acid, produced by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia.[101]

As waterbirds that feed on fish, pelicans are highly susceptible to oil spills, both directly by being oiled and by the impact on their food resources. A 2007 report to the California Fish and Game Commission estimated that during the previous 20 years, some 500–1000 brown pelicans had been affected by oil spills in California.[98] A 2011 report by the Center for Biological Diversity, a year after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, said that 932 brown pelicans had been collected after being affected by oiling and estimated that 10 times that number had been harmed as a result of the spill.[102]

Where pelicans interact with fishers, through either sharing the same waters or scavenging for fishing refuse, they are especially vulnerable to being hooked and entangled in both active and discarded fishing lines. Fish hooks are swallowed or catch in the skin of the pouch or webbed feet, and strong monofilament fishing line can become wound around bill, wings, or legs, resulting in crippling, starvation, and often death. Local rescue organisations have been established in North America and Australia by volunteers to treat and rehabilitate injured pelicans and other wildlife.[103][104][105]

Parasites and disease

As with other bird families, pelicans are susceptible to a variety of parasites. Avian malaria is carried by the mosquito Culex pipens, and high densities of these biting insects may force pelican colonies to be abandoned. Leeches may attach to the vent or sometimes the inside of the pouch.[106] A study of the parasites of the American white pelican found 75 different species, including tapeworms, flukes, flies, fleas, ticks, and nematodes.

The brown pelican has a similarly extensive range of parasites. The nematodes Contracaecum multipapillatum and C. mexicanum and the trematode Ribeiroia ondatrae have caused illness and mortality in the Puerto Rican population, possibly endangering the pelican on this island.[107]

Many pelican parasites are found in other bird groups, but several lice are very host-specific.[108] Healthy pelicans can usually cope with their lice, but sick birds may carry hundreds of individuals, which hastens a sick bird's demise. The pouch louse Piagetiella peralis occurs in the pouch and so it cannot be removed by preening. While this is usually not a serious problem even when present in such numbers that it covers the whole interior of the pouch, sometimes inflammation and bleeding may occur from it and harm the host.[108]

In May 2012, hundreds of Peruvian pelicans were reported to have perished in Peru from a combination of starvation and roundworm infestation.[109]

Religion, mythology, and popular culture

 
Breeding pelicans. Wall fragment from the Sun Temple of Nyuserre Ini at Abu Gurob, Egypt. c. 2430 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin

The pelican (henet in Egyptian) was associated in Ancient Egypt with death and the afterlife. It was depicted in art on the walls of tombs, and figured in funerary texts, as a protective symbol against snakes. Henet was also referred to in the Pyramid Texts as the "mother of the king" and thus seen as a goddess. References in nonroyal funerary papyri show that the pelican was believed to possess the ability to prophesy safe passage in the underworld for someone who had died.[110]

In Jewish dietary law, pelican is not considered kosher (fit for consumption), as it is a type of seabird and therefore considered an unclean animal.[111][112]

An origin myth from the Murri people of Queensland, cited by Andrew Lang, describes how the Australian pelican acquired its black and white plumage. The story tells that the pelican was once a black bird. During a flood, he made a canoe to save drowning people. He fell in love with a woman and decided to save her, but she and her friends tricked him and escaped. The pelican consequently began preparing to go to war against them by daubing himself with white clay as war paint. Before he had finished, another pelican, on seeing such a strange piebald creature, killed him with its beak, and all such pelicans have been black and white ever since.[113]

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature.[114] They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted pelicans in their art.[115]

Alcatraz Island was given its name by the Spanish because of the large numbers of brown pelicans nesting there. The word alcatraz is itself derived from the Arabic al-caduos, a term used for a water-carrying vessel and likened to the pouch of the pelican. The English name albatross is also derived by corruption of the Spanish word.[116][117]

Christianity

 
Statue of pelican wounding its breast to feed its chicks
 
WWII 1944 Scottish blood donation poster

The Physiologus, a didactic Christian text from the 3rd or 4th century, claims that pelicans kill their young when they grow and strike their parents in the face, but then the mother laments them for three days, after which she strikes her side and brings them back to life with her blood.[118] The Physiologus explains this as mirroring the pain inflicted on God by people's idolatry, and the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross which redeems the sinful (see the blood and water gushing from the wound in his side).[118] This text was widely copied, translated, and sometimes closely paraphrased during the Middle Ages, for instance by 13th-century authors Guillaume le Clerc and Bartholomaeus Anglicus.[118]

Likewise, a folktale from India says that a pelican killed her young by rough treatment, but was then so contrite that she resurrected them with her own blood.[4] In a newer, also medieval version of the European myth,[4] the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the point of providing them with blood by wounding her own breast when no other food was available. As a result, the pelican came to symbolise the Passion of Jesus and the Eucharist,[119][120] supplementing the image of the lamb and the flag.[121] A reference to this mythical characteristic is contained for example in the hymn by Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Adoro te devote" or "Humbly We Adore Thee", where in the penultimate verse, he describes Christ as the loving divine pelican, one drop of whose blood can save the world.[122]

Elizabeth I of England adopted the symbol, portraying herself as the "mother of the Church of England". A portrait of her called the Pelican Portrait was painted around 1573, probably by Nicholas Hilliard.[123]

The pelican is featured in many Christian artworks, especially in Europe. For example, the first (1611) edition of the King James Bible contains a depiction of a pelican feeding her young in an oval panel at the bottom of the title page.[121] The "pelican in her piety" appears in the 1686 reredos by Grinling Gibbons in the church of St Mary Abchurch in the City of London. Earlier medieval examples of the motif appear in painted murals, for example, the mural in the parish church of Belchamp Walter, Essex (c. 1350).[124]

 
Queen Elizabeth I: the Pelican Portrait, by Nicholas Hilliard (circa 1573), in which Elizabeth I wears the medieval symbol of the pelican on her chest

The self-sacrificial characterization of the pelican was reinforced by widely read medieval bestiaries. The device of "a pelican in her piety" or "a pelican vulning (from Latin vulnerō, "I wound, I injure, I hurt") herself" was used in religious iconography and heraldry.[4]

Origin in nature

The legends of self-wounding and the provision of blood may have arisen because of the impression a pelican sometimes gives that it is stabbing itself with its bill. In reality, it often presses this onto its chest to fully empty the pouch. Another possible derivation is the tendency of the bird to rest with its bill on its breast; the Dalmatian pelican has a blood-red pouch in the early breeding season and this may have contributed to the myth.[4]

Heraldry

 
The arms of the Kiszely family of Benedekfalva depict a "pelican in her piety" both in the crest and shield.

Pelicans have featured extensively in heraldry, generally using the Christian symbolism of the pelican as a caring and self-sacrificing parent.[125] Heraldic images featuring a "pelican vulning" refers to a pelican injuring herself, while a "pelican in her piety" refers to a female pelican feeding her young with her own blood.[126] The King of Portugal John II adopted the pelican as is own personal sygil while he was Infante, evoking the christian symbology to equate the sacrifice of his blood to feed the nation. The pelican as a symbol also became synonymous with the increasing charity efforts of the Santas Casas da Misericórdia during his reign and the reconstruction of the Hospital das Caldas da Rainha and the Hospital Real de Todos-os-Santos, which were mainly patronaged by his wife D. Leonor.[127]

The image became linked to the medieval religious feast of Corpus Christi. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge each have colleges named for the religious festival nearest the dates of their establishment,[121] and both Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,[128] and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, feature pelicans on their coats of arms.[129]

The medical faculties of Charles University in Prague also have a pelican as their emblem.[130] The symbol of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service is a pelican, and for most of its existence the headquarters of the service was located at Pelican House in Dublin, Ireland.[131] The heraldic pelican also ended up as a pub name and image, though sometimes with the image of the ship Golden Hind.[132] Sir Francis Drake's famous ship was initially called Pelican, and adorned the British halfpenny coin.[133]

Modern usage

 
Pelican on the Albanian 1 lek coin.

The great white pelican is the national bird of Romania.[134] The brown pelican is the national bird of three Caribbean countries—Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, and Sint Maarten—and features on their coats of arms.[135][136][137] It is also the state bird of the US state of Louisiana, which is known colloquially as the Pelican State; the bird appears on the state flag and state seal.[8] It adorns the seals of Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Louisiana Tech University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Loyola University New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana University, and Southern University, and is the mascot of the New Orleans Pelicans NBA team, the Lahti Pelicans ice hockey team, Tulane University, and the University of the West Indies. A white pelican logo is used by the Portuguese bank Montepio Geral,[138] and a pelican is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 1 lek coin, issued in 1996.[139] The name and image were used for Pelican Books, an imprint of nonfiction books published by Penguin Books.[8] The seal of the Packer Collegiate Institute, a pelican feeding her young, has been in use since 1885.[140]

The pelican is the subject of a popular limerick originally composed by Dixon Lanier Merritt in 1910 with several variations by other authors.[141] The original version ran:[142]

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week,
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.

Notes

  1. ^ The US government has not accepted the elevation of the two taxa into separate species.[84]

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Cited texts

External links

pelican, other, uses, disambiguation, genus, pelecanus, genus, large, water, birds, that, make, family, pelecanidae, they, characterized, long, beak, large, throat, pouch, used, catching, prey, draining, water, from, scooped, contents, before, swallowing, they. For other uses see Pelican disambiguation Pelicans genus Pelecanus are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing They have predominantly pale plumage except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans The bills pouches and bare facial skin of all pelicans become brightly coloured before the breeding season PelicanTemporal range late Eocene Recent 36 0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N 1 Possible an early origin based on molecular clock 2 A great white pelican in breeding condition flying over Walvis Bay Namibia Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder PelecaniformesFamily PelecanidaeGenus PelecanusLinnaeus 1758Type speciesPelecanus onocrotalusLinnaeus 1758Species8 see textThe eight living pelican species have a patchy seasonally dependent yet global distribution ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone Pelicans are absent from interior Amazonian South America from polar regions and the open ocean at least one species is known to migrate to the inland desert of Australia s Red Centre after heavy rains create temporary lakes White pelicans are also observed at the American state of Utah s Great Salt Lake for example some 600 miles 965 km from the nearest coastline the Pacific West Coast They have also been seen hundreds of miles inland in North America having flown northwards along the Mississippi River and other large waterways Long thought to be related to frigatebirds cormorants tropicbirds and gannets and boobies pelicans instead are most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop storks although these two birds are not actually true storks and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes Ibises spoonbills herons and bitterns have been classified in the same order Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 36 million years to the remains of a tibiotarsus recovered from late Eocene strata of Egypt that bears striking similarity to modern species of pelican 1 They are thought to have evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas this is reflected in the relationships within the genus as the eight species divide into Old World and New World lineages 3 This hypothesis is supported by fossil evidence from the oldest pelican taxa 1 Pelicans at National Zoo BangladeshPelicans will frequent inland waterways but are most known for residing along maritime and coastal zones where they feed principally on fish in their large throat pouches diving into the water and catching them at near the water s surface They can adapt to varying degrees of water salinity from freshwater and brackish to most commonly seawater They are gregarious birds travelling in flocks hunting cooperatively and breeding colonially Four white plumaged species tend to nest on the ground and four brown or grey plumaged species nest mainly in trees 4 The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing 5 Their populations have fallen through habitat destruction disturbance and environmental pollution and three species are of conservation concern They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology and in Christian and heraldic iconography Contents 1 Taxonomy and systematics 1 1 Etymology 1 2 Taxonomy 1 3 Living species 1 4 Fossil record 2 Description 2 1 Air sacs 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Behaviour and ecology 4 1 Breeding and lifespan 4 2 Feeding 5 Status and conservation 5 1 Populations 5 2 Culling and disturbance 5 3 Poisoning and pollution 5 4 Parasites and disease 6 Religion mythology and popular culture 6 1 Christianity 6 1 1 Origin in nature 6 1 2 Heraldry 6 2 Modern usage 7 Notes 8 References 8 1 Cited texts 9 External linksTaxonomy and systematicsEtymology The name comes from the Ancient Greek word pelekan pelekan 6 which is itself derived from the word pelekys pelekys meaning axe 7 In classical times the word was applied to both the pelican and the woodpecker 8 The genus Pelecanus was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip linear nostrils a bare face and fully webbed feet This early definition included frigatebirds cormorants and sulids as well as pelicans 9 Taxonomy Main article Pelecaniformes Systematics and evolution The family Pelecanidae was introduced as Pelicanea by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815 10 11 Pelicans give their name to the Pelecaniformes an order which has a varied taxonomic history Tropicbirds darters cormorants gannets boobies and frigatebirds all traditional members of the order have since been reclassified tropicbirds into their own order Phaethontiformes and the remainder into the Suliformes In their place herons ibises spoonbills the hamerkop and the shoebill have now been transferred into the Pelecaniformes 12 Molecular evidence suggests that the shoebill and the hamerkop form a sister group to the pelicans 13 though some doubt exists as to the exact relationships among the three lineages 14 The oldest known record of Pelicans is a right tibiotarsus very similar to those of modern species from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Wadi El Hitan in Egypt dating to the late Eocene Priabonian referred to the genus Eopelecanus 1 P rufescensP philippensisP crispusP conspicillatusP onocrotalus P occidentalisP thagusP erythrorhynchosEvolutionary relationships among the extant species based on Kennedy et al 2013 3 SuliformesPelecaniformes Herons Ardeidae Ibises and spoonbills Threskiornithidae Hamerkop Scopus umbretta Shoebill Balaeniceps rex Pelicans Pelecanus Cladogram based on Hackett et al 2008 12 Closest living relatives nbsp Hamerkop nbsp ShoebillLiving species The eight living pelican species were traditionally divided into two groups one containing four ground nesters with mainly white adult plumage Australian Dalmatian great white and American white pelicans and one containing four grey or brown plumaged species which nest preferentially either in trees pink backed spot billed and brown pelicans or on sea rocks Peruvian pelican The largely marine brown and Peruvian pelicans formerly considered conspecific 4 are sometimes separated from the others by placement in the subgenus Leptopelecanus 15 but in fact species with both sorts of appearance and nesting behavior are found in either DNA sequencing of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes yielded quite different relationships the three New World pelicans formed one lineage with the American white pelican sister to the two brown pelicans and the five Old World species the other The Dalmatian pink backed and spot billed were all closely related to one another while the Australian white pelican was their next closest relative The great white pelican also belonged to this lineage but was the first to diverge from the common ancestor of the other four species This finding suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas and that preference for tree or ground nesting is more related to size than genetics 3 Living species of PelecanusCommon and binomial names 16 Image Description Range and statusAmerican white pelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchosGmelin 1789 nbsp Length 1 3 1 8 m 4 3 5 9 ft wingspan 2 44 2 9 m 8 0 9 5 ft weight 5 9 kg 10 20 lb 17 Plumage almost entirely white except for black primary and secondary remiges only visible in flight Monotypic Breeds in inland Canada and United States wintering in southern United States Mexico and Central America 18 19 Status least concern 18 Brown pelicanPelecanus occidentalisLinnaeus 1766 nbsp Length up to 1 4 m 4 6 ft wingspan 2 2 3 m 6 6 7 5 ft weight 3 6 4 5 kg 7 9 9 9 lb 20 Smallest pelican distinguished by brown plumage feeds by plunge diving 21 Five subspecies Coastal distribution ranging from North America and the Caribbean to northern South America and the Galapagos 22 Status least concern 23 Peruvian pelicanPelecanus thagusMolina 1782 nbsp Length up to 1 52 m 5 0 ft wingspan 2 48 m 8 1 ft 24 average weight 7 kg 15 lb 25 Dark with a white stripe from the crown down the sides of the neck Monotypic Pacific Coast of South America from Ecuador and Peru south through to southern Chile 22 Status near threatened 26 Great white pelicanPelecanus onocrotalusLinnaeus 1758 nbsp Length 1 40 1 75 m 4 6 5 7 ft wingspan 2 45 2 95 m 8 0 9 7 ft weight 10 11 kg 22 24 lb 27 28 Plumage white with pink facial patch and legs Monotypic Patchy distribution from eastern Mediterranean east to Indochina and Malay Peninsula and south to South Africa 22 Status least concern 29 Australian pelicanPelecanus conspicillatusTemminck 1824 nbsp Length 1 60 1 90 m 5 2 6 2 ft wingspan 2 3 2 5 m 7 5 8 2 ft weight 4 8 2 kg 8 8 18 1 lb 30 Predominantly white with black along primaries and very large pale pink bill Monotypic Australia and New Guinea vagrant to New Zealand Solomons Bismarck Archipelago Fiji and Wallacea 22 Status least concern 31 Pink backed pelicanPelecanus rufescensGmelin 1789 nbsp Length 1 25 1 32 m 4 1 4 3 ft wingspan 2 65 2 9 m 8 7 9 5 ft 32 weight 3 9 7 kg 8 6 15 4 lb 33 Grey and white plumage occasionally pinkish on the back with a yellow upper mandible and grey pouch 32 Monotypic Africa Seychelles and southwestern Arabia 22 extinct in Madagascar 34 Status least concern 35 Dalmatian pelicanPelecanus crispusBruch 1832 nbsp Length 1 60 1 80 m 5 2 5 9 ft wingspan 2 70 3 20 m 8 9 10 5 ft weight 10 12 kg 22 26 lb 27 28 Largest pelican differs from great white pelican in having curly nape feathers grey legs and greyish white plumage 32 Monotypic South eastern Europe to India and China 22 Status near threatened 36 Spot billed pelicanPelecanus philippensisGmelin 1789 nbsp Length 1 27 1 52 m 4 2 5 0 ft wingspan 2 5 m 8 2 ft weight c 5 kg 11 lb 37 Mainly grey white all over with a grey hindneck crest in breeding season pinkish rump and spotted bill pouch 37 Monotypic Southern Asia from southern Pakistan across India east to Indonesia 22 extinct in the Philippines and possibly eastern China 37 Status near threatened 38 Fossil record The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 36 million years the oldest known pelican fossil was assigned to Eopelecanus aegyptiacus and was found in late Eocene middle to late part of the early Priabonian stage age deposits of the Birket Qarun Formation within the Wadi Al Hitan World Heritage Site in Egypt 1 A more complete fossil pelican of early Oligocene age is known from deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France and is remarkably similar to modern forms 39 Its beak is almost complete and is morphologically identical to that of present day pelicans showing that this advanced feeding apparatus was already in existence at the time 39 An Early Miocene fossil has been named Miopelecanus gracilis on the basis of certain features originally considered unique but later thought to lie within the range of interspecific variation in Pelecanus 39 The Late Eocene Protopelicanus may be a pelecaniform or suliform or a similar aquatic bird such as a pseudotooth Pelagornithidae but is not generally considered a pelecanid 40 1 The supposed Miocene pelican Liptornis from Patagonia is a nomen dubium of doubtful validity being based on fragments providing insufficient evidence to support a valid description 41 Fossil finds from North America have been meagre compared with Europe which has a richer fossil record 42 Several Pelecanus species have been described from fossil material including 43 Pelecanus cadimurka Rich amp van Tets 1981 Late Pliocene South Australia 44 Pelecanus cautleyi Davies 1880 Early Pliocene Siwalik Hills India 43 Pelecanus fraasi Lydekker 1891 Middle Miocene Bavaria Germany 43 Pelecanus gracilis Milne Edwards 1863 Early Miocene France see Miopelecanus 43 Pelecanus halieus Wetmore 1933 Late Pliocene Idaho US 45 Pelecanus intermedius Fraas 1870 Middle Miocene Bavaria Germany 43 transferred to Miopelecanus by Cheneval in 1984 Pelecanus odessanus Widhalm 1886 Late Miocene near Odesa Ukraine 46 Pelecanus paranensis Noriega et al 2023 Late Miocene Entre Rios Province Argentina 47 Pelecanus schreiberi Olson 1999 Early Pliocene North Carolina US 42 Pelecanus sivalensis Davies 1880 Early Pliocene Siwalik Hills India 43 Pelecanus tirarensis Miller 1966 Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene South Australia 48 Description nbsp A brown pelican opening mouth and inflating air sac to display tongue and some inner bill anatomy nbsp American white pelican with knob which develops on bill before the breeding season nbsp An adult brown pelican with a chick in a nest in Chesapeake Bay Maryland US This species will nest on the ground when no suitable trees are available 49 nbsp Australian pelican displaying the extent of its throat pouch Lakes Entrance Victoria Pelicans are very large birds with very long bills characterised by a downcurved hook at the end of the upper mandible and the attachment of a huge gular pouch to the lower The slender rami of the lower bill and the flexible tongue muscles form the pouch into a basket for catching fish and sometimes rainwater 15 though to not hinder the swallowing of large fish the tongue itself is tiny 50 They have a long neck and short stout legs with large fully webbed feet Although they are among the heaviest of flying birds 51 they are relatively light for their apparent bulk because of air pockets in the skeleton and beneath the skin enabling them to float high in the water 15 The tail is short and square The wings are long and broad suitably shaped for soaring and gliding flight and have the unusually large number of 30 to 35 secondary flight feathers 52 Males are generally larger than females and have longer bills 15 The smallest species is the brown pelican small individuals of which can be no more than 2 75 kg 6 1 lb and 1 06 m 3 5 ft long with a wingspan of as little as 1 83 m 6 0 ft The largest is believed to be the Dalmatian at up to 15 kg 33 lb and 1 83 m 6 0 ft in length with a maximum wingspan of 3 m 9 8 ft The Australian pelican s bill may grow up to 0 5 m 1 6 ft long in large males 53 the longest of any bird 4 Pelicans have mainly light coloured plumage the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans 54 The bills pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brighter before breeding season commences 55 The throat pouch of the Californian subspecies of the brown pelican turns bright red and fades to yellow after the eggs are laid while the throat pouch of the Peruvian pelican turns blue The American white pelican grows a prominent knob on its bill that is shed once females have laid eggs 5 The plumage of immature pelicans is darker than that of adults 54 Newly hatched chicks are naked and pink darkening to grey or black after 4 to 14 days then developing a covering of white or grey down 56 Air sacs Anatomical dissections of two brown pelicans in 1939 showed that pelicans have a network of air sacs under their skin situated across the ventral surface including the throat breast and undersides of the wings as well as having air sacs in their bones 57 The air sacs are connected to the airways of the respiratory system and the pelican can keep its air sacs inflated by closing its glottis but how air sacs are inflated is not clear 57 The air sacs serve to keep the pelican remarkably buoyant in the water 58 and may also cushion the impact of the pelican s body on the water surface when they dive from flight into water to catch fish 57 Superficial air sacs may also help to round body contours especially over the abdomen where surface protuberances may be caused by viscera changing size and position to enable the overlying feathers to form more effective heat insulation and also to enable feathers to be held in position for good aerodynamics 57 Distribution and habitatModern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica They primarily inhabit warm regions although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45 South Australian pelicans in Tasmania and 60 North American white pelicans in western Canada 4 Birds of inland and coastal waters they are absent from polar regions the deep ocean oceanic islands except the Galapagos and inland South America as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards 15 Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand s South Island 59 although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia much as is the case today 60 Behaviour and ecology nbsp An Australian pelican gliding with its large wings extendedPelicans swim well with their strong legs and their webbed feet They rub the backs of their heads on their preen glands to pick up an oily secretion which they transfer to their plumage to waterproof it 4 Holding their wings only loosely against their bodies pelicans float with relatively little of their bodies below the water surface 32 They dissipate excess heat by gular flutter rippling the skin of the throat and pouch with the bill open to promote evaporative cooling 15 They roost and loaf communally on beaches sandbanks and in shallow water 15 A fibrous layer deep in the breast muscles can hold the wings rigidly horizontal for gliding and soaring Thus they use thermals for soaring to heights of 3000 m 10 000 ft or more 61 combined both with gliding and with flapping flight in V formation to commute distances up to 150 km 93 mi to feeding areas 4 Pelicans also fly low or skim over stretches of water using a phenomenon known as ground effect to reduce drag and increase lift As the air flows between the wings and the water surface it is compressed to a higher density and exerts a stronger upward force against the bird above 62 Hence substantial energy is saved while flying 63 Adult pelicans rely on visual displays and behaviour to communicate 64 particularly using their wings and bills Agonistic behaviour consists of thrusting and snapping at opponents with their bills or lifting and waving their wings in a threatening manner 65 Adult pelicans grunt when at the colony but are generally silent elsewhere or outside breeding season 32 66 67 68 Conversely colonies are noisy as chicks vocalise extensively 64 Breeding and lifespan nbsp A spot billed pelican nesting colony at Uppalapadu India This species builds nests in trees nbsp A spot billed pelican feeding a juvenile in a nest in a tree at Garapadu India nbsp A nesting colony of Australian pelicans on the coast of New South Wales Australia This species nests on the ground nbsp Pelicans at Dauphin Island Alabama United States Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially Pairs are monogamous for a single season but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area mates are independent away from the nest The ground nesting white species have a complex communal courtship involving a group of males chasing a single female in the air on land or in the water while pointing gaping and thrusting their bills at each other They can finish the process in a day The tree nesting species have a simpler process in which perched males advertise for females 4 The location of the breeding colony is constrained by the availability of an ample supply of fish to eat although pelicans can use thermals to soar and commute for hundreds of kilometres daily to fetch food 55 The Australian pelican has two reproductive strategies depending on the local degree of environmental predictability Colonies of tens or hundreds rarely thousands of birds breed regularly on small coastal and subcoastal islands where food is seasonally or permanently available In arid inland Australia especially in the endorheic Lake Eyre basin pelicans breed opportunistically in very large numbers of up to 50 000 pairs when irregular major floods which may be many years apart fill ephemeral salt lakes and provide large amounts of food for several months before drying out again 61 In all species copulation takes place at the nest site it begins shortly after pairing and continues for 3 10 days before egg laying The male brings the nesting material in ground nesting species which may not build a nest sometimes in the pouch and in tree nesting species crosswise in the bill The female then heaps the material up to form a simple structure 4 The eggs are oval white and coarsely textured 15 All species normally lay at least two eggs the usual clutch size is one to three rarely up to six 15 Both sexes incubate with the eggs on top of or below the feet they may display when changing shifts Incubation takes 30 36 days 15 hatching success for undisturbed pairs can be as high as 95 but because of sibling competition or siblicide in the wild usually all but one nestling dies within the first few weeks later in the pink backed and spot billed species Both parents feed their young Small chicks are fed by regurgitation after about a week they are able to put their heads into their parents pouches and feed themselves 56 Sometimes before but especially after being fed the pelican chick may seem to throw a tantrum by loudly vocalizing and dragging itself around in a circle by one wing and leg striking its head on the ground or anything nearby and the tantrums sometimes end in what looks like a seizure that results in the chick falling briefly unconscious the reason is not clearly known but a common belief is that it is to draw attention to itself and away from any siblings who are waiting to be fed 4 Parents of ground nesting species sometimes drag older young around roughly by the head before feeding them From about 25 days old 15 the young of these species gather in pods or creches of up to 100 birds in which parents recognise and feed only their own offspring By 6 8 weeks they wander around occasionally swimming and may practise communal feeding 4 Young of all species fledge 10 12 weeks after hatching They may remain with their parents afterwards but are now seldom or never fed They are mature at three or four years old 15 Overall breeding success is highly variable 4 Pelicans live for 15 to 25 years in the wild although one reached an age of 54 years in captivity 55 Feeding The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish 55 but occasionally amphibians turtles crustaceans insects birds and mammals are also eaten 69 70 71 The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location For example in Africa the pink backed pelican generally takes fish ranging in size from fry up to 400 g 0 9 lb and the great white pelican prefers somewhat larger fish up to 600 g 1 3 lb but in Europe the latter species has been recorded taking fish up to 1 850 g 4 1 lb 71 In deep water white pelicans often fish alone Nearer the shore several encircle schools of small fish or form a line to drive them into the shallows beating their wings on the water surface and then scooping up the prey 72 Although all pelican species may feed in groups or alone the Dalmatian pink backed and spot billed pelicans are the only ones to prefer solitary feeding When fishing in groups all pelican species have been known to work together to catch their prey and Dalmatian pelicans may even cooperate with great cormorants 71 source source source source source source Brown pelicans diving into the sea to catch fish in JamaicaLarge fish are caught with the bill tip then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head first A gull will sometimes stand on the pelican s head peck it to distraction and grab a fish from the open bill 73 Pelicans in their turn sometimes snatch prey from other waterbirds 4 The brown pelican usually plunge dives head first for its prey from a height as great as 10 20 m 33 66 ft especially for anchovies and menhaden 74 72 71 The only other pelican to feed using a similar technique is the Peruvian pelican but its dives are typically from a lower height than the brown pelican 75 The Australian and American white pelicans may feed by low plunge dives landing feet first and then scooping up the prey with the beak but they as well as the remaining pelican species primarily feed while swimming on the water 71 Aquatic prey is most commonly taken at or near the water surface 54 Although principally a fish eater the Australian pelican is also an eclectic and opportunistic scavenger and carnivore that forages in landfill sites as well as taking carrion 76 and anything from insects and small crustaceans to ducks and small dogs 76 Food is not stored in a pelican s throat pouch contrary to popular folklore 55 Pelicans may also eat birds In southern Africa eggs and chicks of the Cape cormorant are an important food source for great white pelicans 71 Several other bird species have been recorded in the diet of this pelican in South Africa including Cape gannet chicks on Malgas Island 77 as well as crowned cormorants kelp gulls greater crested terns and African penguins on Dassen Island and elsewhere 78 The Australian pelican which is particularly willing to take a wide range of prey items has been recorded feeding on young Australian white ibis and young and adult grey teals and silver gulls 71 79 Brown pelicans have been reported preying on young common murres in California and the eggs and nestlings of cattle egrets and nestling great egrets in Baja California Mexico 80 Peruvian pelicans in Chile have been recorded feeding on nestlings of imperial shags juvenile Peruvian diving petrels and grey gulls 81 82 Cannibalism of chicks of their own species is known from the Australian brown and Peruvian pelicans 79 80 82 Non native great white pelicans have been observed swallowing city pigeons in St James s Park in London England 70 Status and conservationPopulations Globally pelican populations are adversely affected by these main factors declining supplies of fish through overfishing or water pollution destruction of habitat direct effects of human activity such as disturbance at nesting colonies hunting and culling entanglement in fishing lines and hooks and the presence of pollutants such as DDT and endrin Most species populations are more or less stable although three are classified by the IUCN as being at risk All species breed readily in zoos which is potentially useful for conservation management 83 nbsp Pelecanus occidentalis Tortuga Bay Island of Santa Cruz GalapagosThe combined population of brown and Peruvian pelicans is estimated at 650 000 birds with around 250 000 in the United States and Caribbean and 400 000 in Peru a The National Audubon Society estimates the global population of the brown pelican at 300 000 85 Numbers of brown pelican plummeted in the 1950s and 1960s largely as a consequence of environmental DDT pollution and the species was listed as endangered in the US in 1970 With restrictions on DDT use in the US from 1972 its population has recovered and it was delisted in 2009 84 86 The Peruvian pelican is listed as near threatened because although the population is estimated by BirdLife International to exceed 500 000 mature individuals and is possibly increasing it has been much higher in the past It declined dramatically during the 1998 El Nino event and could experience similar declines in the future Conservation needs include regular monitoring throughout the range to determine population trends particularly after El Nino years restricting human access to important breeding colonies and assessing interactions with fisheries 87 The spot billed pelican has an estimated population between 13 000 and 18 000 and is considered to be near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Numbers declined substantially during the 20th century one crucial factor being the eradication of the important Sittaung valley breeding colony in Burma through deforestation and the loss of feeding sites 88 The chief threats it faces are from habitat loss and human disturbance but populations have mostly stabilised following increased protection in India and Cambodia 38 The pink backed pelican has a large population ranging over much of sub Saharan Africa In the absence of substantial threats or evidence of declines across its range its conservation status is assessed as being of least concern Regional threats include the drainage of wetlands and increasing disturbance in southern Africa The species is susceptible to bioaccumulation of toxins and the destruction of nesting trees by logging 89 The American white pelican has increased in numbers 5 with its population estimated at over 157 000 birds in 2005 becoming more numerous east of the continental divide while declining in the west 90 However whether its numbers have been affected by exposure to pesticides is unclear as it has also lost habitat through wetland drainage and competition with recreational use of lakes and rivers 5 nbsp Great white pelicans loafing in KenyaGreat white pelicans range over a large area of Africa and southern Asia The overall trend in numbers is uncertain with a mix of regional populations that are increasing declining stable or unknown but no evidence has been found of rapid overall decline and the status of the species is assessed as being of least concern Threats include the drainage of wetlands persecution and sport hunting disturbance at the breeding colonies and contamination by pesticides and heavy metals 91 The Dalmatian pelican has a population estimated at between 10 000 and 20 000 following massive declines in the 19th and 20th centuries The main ongoing threats include hunting especially in eastern Asia disturbance coastal development collision with overhead power lines and the over exploitation of fish stocks 92 It is listed as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as the population trend is downwards especially in Mongolia where it is nearly extinct However several European colonies are increasing in size and the largest colony for the species at the Small Prespa Lake in Greece has reached about 1 400 breeding pairs following conservation measures 36 Widespread across Australia 5 the Australian pelican has a population generally estimated at between 300 000 and 500 000 individuals 93 Overall population numbers fluctuate widely and erratically depending on wetland conditions and breeding success across the continent The species is assessed as being of least concern 94 Culling and disturbance Pelicans have been persecuted by humans for their perceived competition for fish despite the fact that their diet overlaps little with fish caught by people 5 Starting in the 1880s American white pelicans were clubbed and shot their eggs and young were deliberately destroyed and their feeding and nesting sites were degraded by water management schemes and wetland drainage 5 Even in the 21st century an increase in the population of American white pelicans in southeastern Idaho in the US was seen to threaten the recreational cutthroat trout fishery there leading to official attempts to reduce pelican numbers through systematic harassment and culling 95 Great white pelicans on Dyer Island in the Western Cape region of South Africa were culled during the 19th century because their predation of the eggs and chicks of guano producing seabirds was seen to threaten the livelihood of the guano collectors 78 More recently such predation at South African seabird colonies has impacted on the conservation of threatened seabird populations especially crowned cormorants Cape cormorants and bank cormorants This has led to suggestions that pelican numbers should be controlled at vulnerable colonies 78 Apart from habitat destruction and deliberate targeted persecution pelicans are vulnerable to disturbance at their breeding colonies by birdwatchers photographers and other curious visitors Human presence alone can cause the birds to accidentally displace or destroy their eggs leave hatchlings exposed to predators and adverse weather or even abandon their colonies completely 96 97 98 Poisoning and pollution nbsp Brown pelicans covered with oil after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 nbsp Oiled brown pelican being washed at a rescue center in Fort Jackson 2010 DDT pollution in the environment was a major cause of decline of brown pelican populations in North America in the 1950s and 1960s It entered the oceanic food web contaminating and accumulating in several species including one of the pelican s primary food fish the northern anchovy Its metabolite DDE is a reproductive toxicant in pelicans and many other birds causing eggshell thinning and weakening and consequent breeding failure through the eggs being accidentally crushed by brooding birds Since an effective ban on the use of DDT was implemented in the US in 1972 the eggshells of breeding brown pelicans there have thickened and their populations have largely recovered 74 99 In the late 1960s following the major decline in brown pelican numbers in Louisiana from DDT poisoning 500 pelicans were imported from Florida to augment and re establish the population over 300 subsequently died in April and May 1975 from poisoning by the pesticide endrin 100 About 14 000 pelicans including 7500 American white pelicans perished from botulism after eating fish from the Salton Sea in 1990 5 In 1991 abnormal numbers of brown pelicans and Brandt s cormorants died at Santa Cruz California when their food fish anchovies were contaminated with neurotoxic domoic acid produced by the diatom Pseudo nitzschia 101 As waterbirds that feed on fish pelicans are highly susceptible to oil spills both directly by being oiled and by the impact on their food resources A 2007 report to the California Fish and Game Commission estimated that during the previous 20 years some 500 1000 brown pelicans had been affected by oil spills in California 98 A 2011 report by the Center for Biological Diversity a year after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill said that 932 brown pelicans had been collected after being affected by oiling and estimated that 10 times that number had been harmed as a result of the spill 102 Where pelicans interact with fishers through either sharing the same waters or scavenging for fishing refuse they are especially vulnerable to being hooked and entangled in both active and discarded fishing lines Fish hooks are swallowed or catch in the skin of the pouch or webbed feet and strong monofilament fishing line can become wound around bill wings or legs resulting in crippling starvation and often death Local rescue organisations have been established in North America and Australia by volunteers to treat and rehabilitate injured pelicans and other wildlife 103 104 105 Parasites and disease As with other bird families pelicans are susceptible to a variety of parasites Avian malaria is carried by the mosquito Culex pipens and high densities of these biting insects may force pelican colonies to be abandoned Leeches may attach to the vent or sometimes the inside of the pouch 106 A study of the parasites of the American white pelican found 75 different species including tapeworms flukes flies fleas ticks and nematodes The brown pelican has a similarly extensive range of parasites The nematodes Contracaecum multipapillatum and C mexicanum and the trematode Ribeiroia ondatrae have caused illness and mortality in the Puerto Rican population possibly endangering the pelican on this island 107 Many pelican parasites are found in other bird groups but several lice are very host specific 108 Healthy pelicans can usually cope with their lice but sick birds may carry hundreds of individuals which hastens a sick bird s demise The pouch louse Piagetiella peralis occurs in the pouch and so it cannot be removed by preening While this is usually not a serious problem even when present in such numbers that it covers the whole interior of the pouch sometimes inflammation and bleeding may occur from it and harm the host 108 In May 2012 hundreds of Peruvian pelicans were reported to have perished in Peru from a combination of starvation and roundworm infestation 109 Religion mythology and popular culture nbsp Breeding pelicans Wall fragment from the Sun Temple of Nyuserre Ini at Abu Gurob Egypt c 2430 BCE Neues Museum BerlinThe pelican henet in Egyptian was associated in Ancient Egypt with death and the afterlife It was depicted in art on the walls of tombs and figured in funerary texts as a protective symbol against snakes Henet was also referred to in the Pyramid Texts as the mother of the king and thus seen as a goddess References in nonroyal funerary papyri show that the pelican was believed to possess the ability to prophesy safe passage in the underworld for someone who had died 110 In Jewish dietary law pelican is not considered kosher fit for consumption as it is a type of seabird and therefore considered an unclean animal 111 112 An origin myth from the Murri people of Queensland cited by Andrew Lang describes how the Australian pelican acquired its black and white plumage The story tells that the pelican was once a black bird During a flood he made a canoe to save drowning people He fell in love with a woman and decided to save her but she and her friends tricked him and escaped The pelican consequently began preparing to go to war against them by daubing himself with white clay as war paint Before he had finished another pelican on seeing such a strange piebald creature killed him with its beak and all such pelicans have been black and white ever since 113 The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature 114 They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted pelicans in their art 115 Alcatraz Island was given its name by the Spanish because of the large numbers of brown pelicans nesting there The word alcatraz is itself derived from the Arabic al caduos a term used for a water carrying vessel and likened to the pouch of the pelican The English name albatross is also derived by corruption of the Spanish word 116 117 Christianity nbsp Statue of pelican wounding its breast to feed its chicks nbsp WWII 1944 Scottish blood donation posterThe Physiologus a didactic Christian text from the 3rd or 4th century claims that pelicans kill their young when they grow and strike their parents in the face but then the mother laments them for three days after which she strikes her side and brings them back to life with her blood 118 The Physiologus explains this as mirroring the pain inflicted on God by people s idolatry and the self sacrifice of Jesus on the cross which redeems the sinful see the blood and water gushing from the wound in his side 118 This text was widely copied translated and sometimes closely paraphrased during the Middle Ages for instance by 13th century authors Guillaume le Clerc and Bartholomaeus Anglicus 118 Likewise a folktale from India says that a pelican killed her young by rough treatment but was then so contrite that she resurrected them with her own blood 4 In a newer also medieval version of the European myth 4 the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young to the point of providing them with blood by wounding her own breast when no other food was available As a result the pelican came to symbolise the Passion of Jesus and the Eucharist 119 120 supplementing the image of the lamb and the flag 121 A reference to this mythical characteristic is contained for example in the hymn by Saint Thomas Aquinas Adoro te devote or Humbly We Adore Thee where in the penultimate verse he describes Christ as the loving divine pelican one drop of whose blood can save the world 122 Elizabeth I of England adopted the symbol portraying herself as the mother of the Church of England A portrait of her called the Pelican Portrait was painted around 1573 probably by Nicholas Hilliard 123 The pelican is featured in many Christian artworks especially in Europe For example the first 1611 edition of the King James Bible contains a depiction of a pelican feeding her young in an oval panel at the bottom of the title page 121 The pelican in her piety appears in the 1686 reredos by Grinling Gibbons in the church of St Mary Abchurch in the City of London Earlier medieval examples of the motif appear in painted murals for example the mural in the parish church of Belchamp Walter Essex c 1350 124 nbsp Queen Elizabeth I the Pelican Portrait by Nicholas Hilliard circa 1573 in which Elizabeth I wears the medieval symbol of the pelican on her chestThe self sacrificial characterization of the pelican was reinforced by widely read medieval bestiaries The device of a pelican in her piety or a pelican vulning from Latin vulnerō I wound I injure I hurt herself was used in religious iconography and heraldry 4 Origin in nature The legends of self wounding and the provision of blood may have arisen because of the impression a pelican sometimes gives that it is stabbing itself with its bill In reality it often presses this onto its chest to fully empty the pouch Another possible derivation is the tendency of the bird to rest with its bill on its breast the Dalmatian pelican has a blood red pouch in the early breeding season and this may have contributed to the myth 4 Heraldry nbsp The arms of the Kiszely family of Benedekfalva depict a pelican in her piety both in the crest and shield Pelicans have featured extensively in heraldry generally using the Christian symbolism of the pelican as a caring and self sacrificing parent 125 Heraldic images featuring a pelican vulning refers to a pelican injuring herself while a pelican in her piety refers to a female pelican feeding her young with her own blood 126 The King of Portugal John II adopted the pelican as is own personal sygil while he was Infante evoking the christian symbology to equate the sacrifice of his blood to feed the nation The pelican as a symbol also became synonymous with the increasing charity efforts of the Santas Casas da Misericordia during his reign and the reconstruction of the Hospital das Caldas da Rainha and the Hospital Real de Todos os Santos which were mainly patronaged by his wife D Leonor 127 The image became linked to the medieval religious feast of Corpus Christi The universities of Oxford and Cambridge each have colleges named for the religious festival nearest the dates of their establishment 121 and both Corpus Christi College Cambridge 128 and Corpus Christi College Oxford feature pelicans on their coats of arms 129 The medical faculties of Charles University in Prague also have a pelican as their emblem 130 The symbol of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service is a pelican and for most of its existence the headquarters of the service was located at Pelican House in Dublin Ireland 131 The heraldic pelican also ended up as a pub name and image though sometimes with the image of the ship Golden Hind 132 Sir Francis Drake s famous ship was initially called Pelican and adorned the British halfpenny coin 133 Modern usage nbsp Pelican on the Albanian 1 lek coin The great white pelican is the national bird of Romania 134 The brown pelican is the national bird of three Caribbean countries Saint Kitts and Nevis Barbados and Sint Maarten and features on their coats of arms 135 136 137 It is also the state bird of the US state of Louisiana which is known colloquially as the Pelican State the bird appears on the state flag and state seal 8 It adorns the seals of Louisiana State University Tulane University Louisiana Tech University the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Loyola University New Orleans Southeastern Louisiana University and Southern University and is the mascot of the New Orleans Pelicans NBA team the Lahti Pelicans ice hockey team Tulane University and the University of the West Indies A white pelican logo is used by the Portuguese bank Montepio Geral 138 and a pelican is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 1 lek coin issued in 1996 139 The name and image were used for Pelican Books an imprint of nonfiction books published by Penguin Books 8 The seal of the Packer Collegiate Institute a pelican feeding her young has been in use since 1885 140 The pelican is the subject of a popular limerick originally composed by Dixon Lanier Merritt in 1910 with several variations by other authors 141 The original version ran 142 A wonderful bird is the pelican His bill will hold more than his belican He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I m damned if I see how the helican Notes The US government has not accepted the elevation of the two taxa into separate species 84 References a b c d e f El Adli Joseph J Wilson Mantilla Jeffrey A Antar Mohammed Sameh M Gingerich Philip D 2 January 2021 The earliest recorded fossil pelican recovered from the late Eocene of Wadi Al Hitan Egypt Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41 1 e1903910 Bibcode 2021JVPal 41E3910E doi 10 1080 02724634 2021 1903910 ISSN 0272 4634 S2CID 236269386 Kuhl H Frankl Vilches C Bakker A Mayr G Nikolaus G Boerno S T Klages S Timmermann B Gahr M 2020 An unbiased molecular approach using 3 UTRs resolves the avian family level tree of life Molecular Biology and Evolution 38 108 127 doi 10 1093 molbev msaa191 PMC 7783168 PMID 32781465 a b c Kennedy Martyn Taylor Scott A Nadvornik Petr Spencer Hamish G 2013 The phylogenetic relationships of the extant pelicans inferred from DNA sequence data PDF Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66 1 215 22 doi 10 1016 j ympev 2012 09 034 PMID 23059726 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Nelson J Bryan Schreiber Elizabeth Anne Schreiber Ralph W 2003 Pelicans In Perrins Christopher ed Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds Richmond Hill Ontario Firefly Books pp 78 81 ISBN 1 55297 777 3 a b c d e f g h Keith James O 2005 An Overview of the American White Pelican Waterbirds 28 Special Publication 1 The Biology and Conservation of the American White Pelican 9 17 doi 10 1675 1524 4695 2005 28 9 aootaw 2 0 co 2 JSTOR 4132643 S2CID 85813418 Jobling James A 2010 The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names London United Kingdom Christopher Helm p 296 ISBN 978 1 4081 2501 4 Partridge Eric 1983 Origins a Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English New York New York Greenwich House p 479 ISBN 0 517 414252 a b c Simpson J Weiner E eds 1989 Pelican Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed Oxford United Kingdom Clarendon Press p 1299 ISBN 0 19 861186 2 Linnaeus C 1758 Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae Editio Decima in Latin Vol 1 Stockholm Lars Salvius pp 132 34 Rostrum edentulum rectum apice adunco unguiculato Nares lineares Facies nuda Pedes digitis omnibus palmatis Rafinesque Constantine Samuel 1815 Analyse de la nature ou Tableau de l univers et des corps organises in French Vol 1815 Palermo Self published p 72 Bock Walter J 1994 History and Nomenclature of Avian Family Group Names Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History Vol Number 222 New York American Museum of Natural History pp 131 252 hdl 2246 830 a b Hackett S J Kimball R T Reddy S Bowie R C K Braun E L Braun M J Chojnowski J L Cox W A Han K L Harshman J Huddleston C J Marks B D Miglia K J Moore W A Sheldon F H Steadman D W Witt C C Yuri T 2008 A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History Science 320 5884 1763 68 Bibcode 2008Sci 320 1763H doi 10 1126 science 1157704 PMID 18583609 S2CID 6472805 Smith N D 2010 Desalle Robert ed Phylogenetic Analysis of Pelecaniformes Aves Based on Osteological Data Implications for Waterbird Phylogeny and Fossil Calibration Studies PLOS ONE 5 10 e13354 Bibcode 2010PLoSO 513354S doi 10 1371 journal pone 0013354 PMC 2954798 PMID 20976229 Mayr G 2007 Avian higher level phylogeny Well supported clades and what we can learn from a phylogenetic analysis of 2954 morphological characters Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 46 63 72 doi 10 1111 j 1439 0469 2007 00433 x a b c d e f g h i j k l Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Volume 1 Ratites to Ducks Marchant S Higgins P J Coordinators Melbourne Victoria Oxford University Press 1990 pp 737 38 ISBN 0 19 553068 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link Zoological Nomenclature Resource Pelecaniformes Version 2 003 zoonomen net 14 December 2011 Retrieved 21 May 2012 Nellis David W 2001 Common Coastal Birds of Florida amp the Caribbean Sarasota Florida Pineapple Press p 11 ISBN 1 56164 191 X Retrieved 29 June 2012 a b BirdLife International 2016 Pelecanus erythrorhynchos IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22697611A93624242 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS T22697611A93624242 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 Elliott 1992 p 310 Brown Pelican PDF Endangered Species Program information sheet US Fish amp Wildlife Service November 2009 Archived from the original PDF on 11 November 2012 Retrieved 9 June 2012 Ridgely Robert S Gwynne John A 1992 A Guide to the Birds of Panama With Costa Rica Nicaragua and Honduras Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press p 63 ISBN 0691025126 Retrieved 29 June 2012 a b c d e f g Sibley Charles Gald Monroe Burt Leavelle 1990 Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World Yale University Press pp 314 15 ISBN 0300049692 Retrieved 29 June 2012 BirdLife International 2018 Pelecanus occidentalis IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018 e T22733989A132663224 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2018 2 RLTS T22733989A132663224 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 Chester Sharon R 2008 A Wildlife Guide to Chile Continental Chile Chilean Antarctica Easter Island Juan Fernandez Archipelago Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press pp 174 75 ISBN 978 0691129761 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Austermuhle Stefan 17 October 2010 Peruvian Pelican Mundo Azul Archived from the original on 4 June 2012 Retrieved 9 June 2012 BirdLife International 2018 Pelecanus thagus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018 e T22697619A132596827 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2018 2 RLTS T22697619A132596827 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 a b Snow David Perrins Christopher M eds 1998 The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition 2 volumes Oxford United Kingdom Oxford University Press pp 93 98 ISBN 0 19 854099 X a b Mullarney Killian Svensson Lars Zetterstrom Dan Grant Peter 1999 Collins Bird Guide Collins p 76 ISBN 0 00 219728 6 BirdLife International 2018 Pelecanus onocrotalus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018 e T22697590A132595920 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2018 2 RLTS T22697590A132595920 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 Australian Pelican Unique Australian Animals January 2000 Retrieved 10 June 2012 BirdLife International 2016 Pelecanus conspicillatus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22697608A93623945 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS 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T22697604A117970266 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2017 3 RLTS T22697604A117970266 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 a b c Louchart Antoine Tourment Nicolas Carrier Julie 2011 The Earliest Known Pelican Reveals 30 Million Years of Evolutionary Stasis in Beak Morphology Journal of Ornithology 150 1 15 20 doi 10 1007 s10336 010 0537 5 S2CID 21016885 Mlikovsky Jiri 1995 Nomenclatural and Taxonomic Status of Fossil Birds Described by H G L Reichenbach in 1852 PDF Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 181 311 16 Archived from the original PDF on 6 October 2013 Retrieved 29 April 2012 Olson Storrs L 1985 Faunal Turnover in South American Fossil Avifaunas the Insufficiencies of the Fossil Record Evolution 39 5 1174 77 doi 10 2307 2408747 JSTOR 2408747 PMID 28561505 a b Olson Storrs L 1999 A New Species of Pelican Aves Pelecanidae from the Lower Pliocene of North Carolina and Florida PDF Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 112 3 503 09 a b c d e f Lydekker Richard 1891 Catalogue of the Fossil Birds in the British Museum Natural History London United Kingdom British Museum pp 37 45 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Rich P V van Tets J 1981 The Fossil Pelicans of Australia Records of the South Australian Museum Adelaide 18 12 235 64 Wetmore A 1933 Pliocene Bird Remains from Idaho Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 87 20 1 12 Widhalm J 1886 Die Fossilen Vogel Knochen der Odessaer Steppen Kalk Steinbruche an der Neuen Slobodka bei Odessa Schriften der Neurussische Gesellschaft der Naturforscher zu Odessa in German 10 3 9 Noriega Jorge I Cenizo Marcos Brandoni Diego Perez Leandro M Tineo David E Diederle Juan M Bona Paula 9 May 2023 A new pelican Aves Pelecanidae from the Upper Miocene of Argentina new clues about the origin of the New World lineages Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 42 5 e2202702 doi 10 1080 02724634 2023 2202702 ISSN 0272 4634 S2CID 258605013 Miller A H 1966 The Fossil Pelicans of Australia Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 14 181 90 Brown Pelican breeding and nesting habits Florida Wildlife Viewing M Timothy O Keefe Retrieved 5 August 2012 Beebe C William 1965 The Bird its Form and Function New York New York Dover Publications Elliott 1992 p 290 Perrins Christopher M 2009 The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds Princeton University p 78 ISBN 978 0691140704 Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Volume 1 Ratites to Ducks Marchant S Higgins P J Coordinators Melbourne Victoria Oxford University Press 1990 p 746 ISBN 0 19 553068 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link a b c Steele John H Thorpe Steve A Turekian Karl K 2010 Marine Biology A Derivative of the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences London United Kingdom Academic Press pp 524 30 ISBN 978 0 08 096480 5 a b c d e Perrins Christopher M Middleton Alex L A eds 1998 1985 Encyclopedia of Birds New York New York Facts on File pp 53 54 ISBN 0 8160 1150 8 a b Campbell Bruce Lack Elizabeth eds 1985 A Dictionary of Birds Calton United Kingdom Poyser p 443 ISBN 0 85661 039 9 a b c d Richardson Frank 1939 Functional Aspects of the Pneumatic System of the California Brown Pelican PDF The Condor 41 1 13 17 doi 10 2307 1364267 JSTOR 1364267 Bumstead Pat 2001 Canadian Feathers a Loon atics Guide to Anting Mimicry and Dump nesting Calgary Alberta Simply Wild Publications p 129 ISBN 0968927807 Gill Brian James 1991 New Zealand s Extinct Birds London United Kingdom Random Century p 46 ISBN 1869411250 Gill B J Tennyson A J D 2002 New fossil records of pelicans Aves Pelecanidae from New Zealand PDF Tuhinga Records of the Museum of New Zealand te PapaTongarewa 13 39 44 a b Reid Julian 28 April 2010 Mysteries of the Australian pelican Australian Geographic Archived from the original on 14 June 2012 Retrieved 18 June 2012 Thomas Bob 2 June 2011 Bird Flight Over Water College of Social Sciences Intranet New Orleans Louisiana Center for Environmental Communication Loyola University Retrieved 1 August 2012 Hainsworth F Reed 1988 Induced Drag Savings From Ground Effect and Formation Flight in Brown Pelicans Journal of Experimental Biology 135 431 44 doi 10 1242 jeb 135 1 431 a b Khanna D R 2005 Biology of Birds New Delhi India Discovery Publishing House pp 315 16 ISBN 817141933X Retrieved 29 June 2012 Terrill Ceiridwen 2007 Unnatural Landscapes Tracking Invasive Species Tucson Arizona University of Arizona Press p 36 ISBN 978 0816525232 Dunne Pete 2006 Pete Dunne s Essential Field Guide Companion New York New York Houghton Mifflin Harcourt pp 118 19 ISBN 0 618 23648 1 Davidson Ian Sinclair Ian 2006 Southern African Birds A Photographic Guide 2nd ed Cape Town South Africa Struik p 22 ISBN 1770072446 Vestjens W J M 1977 Breeding Behaviour and Ecology of the Australian Pelican Pelecanus Conspicillatus in New South Wales Wildlife Research 4 37 58 doi 10 1071 WR9770037 Pelican Swallows Pigeon in Park BBC News 25 October 2006 Retrieved 25 October 2006 a b Clarke James 30 October 2006 Pelican s Pigeon Meal not so Rare BBC News Retrieved 5 July 2007 a b c d e f g Elliott 1992 p 295 298 309 311 a b Pelican Pelecanus Factsheet National Geographic 11 November 2010 Archived from the original on 24 January 2010 Retrieved 28 April 2012 Freeman Shanna 24 November 2008 Does a Pelican s Bill Hold More Than its Belly Can HowStuffWorks Inc a b Anon 1980 National accomplishments in pollution control 1970 1980 some case histories U S Environmental Protection Agency Office of Planning and Evaluation pp 183 184 ISBN 1236274539 Jaramillo A 2009 Humboldt Current seabirding in Chile Neotropical Birding 4 27 39 a b Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Volume 1 Ratites to Ducks Marchant S Higgins P J Coordinators Melbourne Victoria Oxford University Press 1990 p 742 ISBN 0 19 553068 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link Walker Matt 5 November 2009 Pelicans Filmed Gobbling Gannets BBC Retrieved 5 November 2009 a b c Mwema Martin M de Ponte Machado Marta Ryan Peter G 2010 Breeding Seabirds at Dassen Island South Africa Chances of Surviving Great White Pelican Predation PDF Endangered Species Research 9 125 31 doi 10 3354 esr00243 a b Smith A C M U Munro 2008 Cannibalism in the Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus and Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca Waterbirds The International Journal of Waterbird Biology 31 4 632 635 a b Mora Miguel A 1989 Predation by a Brown Pelican at a Mixed Species Heronry PDF Condor 91 3 742 43 doi 10 2307 1368134 JSTOR 1368134 Cursach J A J R Rau J Vilugron 2016 Presence of the Peruvian Pelican Pelicanus thagus in seabird colonies of Chilean Patagonia Marine Ornithology 44 27 30 a b Daigre M P Arce A Simeone 2012 Fledgling Peruvian Pelicans Pelecanus thagus attack and consume younger unrelated conspecifics Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124 3 603 607 doi 10 1676 12 011 1 S2CID 84928683 Crivelli Alain J Schreiber Ralph W 1984 Status of the Pelecanidae Biological Conservation 30 2 147 56 doi 10 1016 0006 3207 84 90063 6 a b Fish and Wildlife Service Department of the Interior 17 November 2009 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants Removal of the Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife PDF Federal Register 74 220 59444 72 Brown Pelican Species profile National Audubon Society Archived from the original on 5 November 2013 Retrieved 9 August 2012 Cappiello Dina 12 November 2009 Brown pelicans off endangered species list San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 13 June 2012 Peruvian Pelican BirdLife species factsheet BirdLife International Retrieved 7 August 2012 Spot billed Pelican Species factsheet BirdLife International Retrieved 11 August 2012 Pink backed Pelican BirdLife species factsheet BirdLife International Retrieved 7 August 2012 King D Tommy Anderson Daniel W 2005 Recent Population Status of the American White Pelican A Continental Perspective USDA National Wildlife Research Center Staff Publications Paper 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Burkett Esther Logsdon Randi J Fien Kristi M 2007 Status Review of California Brown Pelican PDF California Fish and Game Commission Reports U S Environmental Protection Agency Office of Planning and Evaluation Archived from the original PDF on 20 December 2011 Ehrlich Paul R Dobkin David S Wheye Darryl 1988 DDT and Birds Stanford University Retrieved 6 August 2012 Ermis Julius 29 April 1982 Bird species regroup with residue decline The Victoria Advocate Julius Ermis Outdoors Retrieved 8 August 2012 Work Thierry M Barr Bradd Beale Allison M Fritz Lawrence Quilliam Michael A Wright Jeffrey L C 1993 Epidemiology of domoic acid poisoning in Brown Pelicans Pelecanus occidentalis and Brandt s Cormorants Phalacrocorax penicillatus in California Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 24 1 54 62 JSTOR 20460314 A Deadly Toll PDF Report Center for Biological Diversity April 2011 Retrieved 6 August 2012 The Brown Pelican Crisis News and Events Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network Retrieved 5 August 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Pelicanos en La Libertad murieron por desnutricion y parasitosis in Spanish Peru com 4 May 2012 4 May 2012 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Hart George 2005 The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses Routledge Dictionaries Abingdon United Kingdom Routledge p 125 ISBN 978 0 415 34495 1 Old Testament King James Version Book of Leviticus also included in Jewish Torah Bible Gateway p 11 Old Testament King James Version Book of Deuteronomy also included in Jewish Torah Bible Gateway p 14 Lang Andrew 2005 1887 Myth Ritual amp Religion Volume 1 New York New York Cosimo Inc pp 140 41 ISBN 978 1 59605 204 8 Benson Elizabeth 1972 The Mochica A Culture of Peru New York Praeger Press Berrin Kathleen Larco Museum 1997 The Spirit of Ancient Peru Treasures from the Larco Museum New York New York Thames and Hudson ISBN 0500018022 Skeat Walter W 1888 An etymological dictionary of the English Language 2nd ed Oxford University Press p 14 Grant Martin L 1951 The Origin of the Common Names of Birds BIOS 22 2 116 119 a b c Stracke Richard 2018 The Pelican Symbol ChristianIconography Info Retrieved 6 June 2022 Gauding Madonna 2009 The Signs and Symbols Bible The Definitive Guide to Mysterious Markings New York NY Sterling Publishing Company p 263 ISBN 9781402770043 Retrieved 20 September 2019 F L Cross E A Livingstone eds 2005 pelican The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 3rd ed Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199566716 Retrieved 6 June 2022 via oxfordreference com a b c McGrath Alister E 2012 2002 In the beginning the story of the King James Bible and how it changed a nation a language and a culture New York Anchor Books a Division of Random House Inc ISBN 9781444745269 Retrieved 20 September 2019 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2007 Catholic Household Blessings amp Prayers USCCB p 12 ISBN 9781574556452 Retrieved 20 September 2019 Queen Elizabeth I The Pelican Portrait called Nicholas Hilliard c 1573 Walker Art Gallery Liverpool United Kingdom National Museums Liverpool 1998 Archived from the original on 16 April 2014 Retrieved 29 July 2012 The Pelican in its Piety at Painted Churches online catalog Anne Marschall Archived from the original on 12 April 2016 Saunders Rev William The Symbolism of the Pelican Arlington Catholic Herald Gough Henry 1894 A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry J Parker p 451 Retrieved 19 August 2017 Silva Priscilla 2007 Entre Principe Perfeito e Rei Pelicano os Caminhos da Memoria e da propaganda politica atraves do estudo da imagem de D Joao II seculo XV PDF Universidade Federal Flaminense College Crest Cambridge United Kingdom Corpus Christi College Cambridge University 2011 Archived from the original on 19 July 2012 Retrieved 2 May 2012 Corpus Christi Corpus Christi College Oxford Retrieved 2 May 2012 First Faculty of Medicine Prague Czech Republic Charles University in Prague 2012 Retrieved 2 May 2012 Irish Blood Transfusion Service IBTS Retrieved 13 June 2012 Rothwell David 2006 Dictionary of Pub Names London United Kingdom Wordsworth Editions p 295 ISBN 1840222662 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Sugden John 2012 1990 Sir Francis Drake London United Kingdom Random House p 99 ISBN 978 1448129508 Retrieved 29 June 2012 National Birds List of national birds and flowers or plants of European countries Eupedia Retrieved 20 July 2012 Pelican Craft Centre Overview Barbados Investment and Development Corporation Retrieved 21 July 2012 National Symbols The Coat of Arms Historic Heritage St Christopher National Trust Archived from the original on 13 July 2012 Retrieved 20 July 2012 United States Central Intelligence Agency ed 2016 The World Factbook 2016 17 Washington DC Government Printing Office p 668 ISBN 978 0 16 093327 1 Montepio institutional Montepio Bank website in Portuguese Montepio Retrieved 29 June 2012 Albanian coins in issue in 1995 1996 and 2000 Bank of Albania 2009 Archived from the original on 6 March 2009 Retrieved 23 March 2009 Middle School Handbook packer edu Archived from the original on 17 February 2013 Laney Rex 1958 The case of the pelican limerick Louisiana Conservationist 1 10 6 7 22 Knowles Elizabeth 1999 1981 The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Oxford United Kingdom Oxford University Press p 506 ISBN 0198601735 Cited texts Elliott Andrew 1992 Family Pelecanidae Pelicans In del Hoyo Josep Elliott Andrew Sargatal Jordi eds Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 1 Ostrich to Ducks Barcelona Lynx Edicions pp 290 311 ISBN 978 84 87334 10 8 External linksPelican at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Definitions from Wiktionary nbsp Media from Commons nbsp News from Wikinews nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Textbooks from Wikibooks nbsp Resources from Wikiversity nbsp Birds portal nbsp Animals portalNewton Alfred 1885 Pelican Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol XVIII 9th ed pp 474 475 Pelican videos on the Internet Bird Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pelican amp oldid 1193071139, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, 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