Species: Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

American White Pelican

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Birds

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Species of concern in the Salish Sea

Species of concern in the Puget Sound watershed

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Articles:

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

August 01, 2013

This article was originally published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of its annual report Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington.

American White Pelican, Grant County. Photo by Joe Higbee.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Pelecaniformes

Family

Pelecanidae

Genus

Pelecanus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102798

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Pelícano Blanco - pélican d'Amérique

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Pelecaniformes - Pelecanidae - Pelecanus

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A large white waterbird with a very large beak.

Migration

true - false - true - Maximum distance between nesting site and breeding season foraging area can be 100 to 300 kilometers (Low et al. 1950, Marshall and Giles 1953, Lingle and Sloan 1980; also see Johnsgard 1993).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Diet includes mainly fishes of little commercial value (e.g., carp, perch, catfish, suckers, sticklebacks, minnows) (Terres 1980), also locally trout, centrarchids, tiger salamanders, or crayfishes. Locally, tiger salamanders may be important as food for chicks. Foraging often occurs in shallow water. Pelicans sometimes forage cooperatively, forming a semicircle and herding fishes.

Reproduction Comments

Egg laying occurs May-July in Texas, late April-June (mainly before June) in Utah. In Canada, nesting begins in May or June; hatching in the first nests sometimes precedes initiation of the last clutches. In Manitoba, flocks first flew over colony sites 34-38 days before hatching. Clutch size is commonly 2, but pairs rarely fledge more than one young. Incubation, by both adults, averages 31-32 days, Young are tended by adults, leave nest in about 21-28 days, join other young in group, fledge at 9-10 weeks, and attain sexual maturity usually at 3 years. Mortality of eggs and chicks generally is high. Female generally does not renest following clutch loss.

Ecology Comments

Gregarious. Significant predators at various breeding sites include gulls, coyotes, and probably large corvids and other mammals.

Length

158

Weight

7500

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2008-12-04

Global Status Last Changed

2008-12-04

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - Nesting occurs locally in south-central British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and southwestern Ontario south through northern California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, and Minnesota; also on the central coast of Texas and sporadically in east-central Mexico (Tamaulipas) and central Durango, Mexico (Johnsgard 1993, Knopf and Evans 2004). During the nonbreeding season the range includes Florida, Gulf of Mexico coast south to northern Yucatan Peninsula, and central California south to southern Baja California and through western mainland Mexico to Nicaragua (AOU 1983, Knopf and Evans 2004). In North America, the highest winter density occurs in southern Texas (Root 1988); other important areas include the Gulf coast and Everglades region of Florida. In summer, white pelicans sometimes wander north of the usual range. Coded range extent refers to breeding range.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102798