| Description |
Adults - white with black primaries and outer secondaries; yellowish pouch connected to the lower mandible that stretches up to six inches; webbed feet are bright orange; legs are orange and extremely short; Immature - mostly white wing coverts mottled head and neck grayish; Juvenile - dusky overall |
| Sex |
sexes indistinguishable except during breeding season when the male develops a fibrous plate on the upper part of the beak, the crest becomes bright yellow, and the bill becomes bright orange; the â "horn" is shed after the eggs are laid |
| Age |
12-34 years |
| Length |
60" |
| Wingspan |
8-9' |
| Weight |
15-20 lbs. |
| Habitat |
brackish and freshwater lakes, salt bays, marshes, beaches and rivers |
| Status |
not currently threatened, but is "listed" as a "species of special concern" |
| Range |
northern California, western Nevada, Utah, Colorado, ortheastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota and occasionally the central coast of Texas; they winter along the Pacific in Central California, south along the Mexican coast to Guatemala and Nicaragua; also along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico; occasionally found along the Mississippi River |
| Behavior |
they nest in colonies of several hundred pairs on islands in remote lakes of inland North America; female lays 2-3 chalky white eggs in a shallow depression on the ground; both parents incubate and feed the young by regurgitation; young are dependent for about 5 months |
| Diet |
more than 4 pounds of fish per day; American white pelicans do not dive to catch prey - it simply floats along the water and scoops up fish with its enormous bill; the bill can hold 3 gallons of water; after fish are caught, the bill is pointed downward allowing the water to drain out; often fish in groups |
| Vocalization |
adults rarely make any noise, but when they do it is usually a low grunt |
| Other Information |
- Pelicans have a vertebra in their necks which prevents them from ever raising their face |
