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Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalisPacific region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis

It is the only pelican that dives to feed instead of swimming and fishing on the surface. It glides at a very low height above the water with extended wings and when it spots a fish, it ascends up to 10 meters, before folding its wings backwards and diving into the sea.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Beak

They have a saline gland located in the skull near the beak, which excretes excess salt and is essential for the balance of electrolytes in the blood.

Legs

Their legs have an interdigital membrane that helps them move in the water.

Membrane

The membrane of its beak is very elastic allowing it to stretch like a big bag when the fish are caught in the water.

Lifecycle

In the tropical belt its reproduction occurs throughout the year, for this reason a great variety of sizes is observed among the young of a colony. The nests are located on the ground or in bushes, it lays two or three eggs, the incubation takes between 23 to 30 days. When the chicks are between 18 and 20 days old are able to support themselves on the tarsi, at around 80 to 90 days the chicks are ready to take flight.

They have a characteristic flight low over the water and are sometimes observed feeding in cooperative groups.

Brown Pelican

Distribution

It is a marine bird with a wide distribution;, in Colombia we can find it on the Pacific and the Caribbean coasts.

Distribution area