Great White Pelican

The Great White Pelican is a huge waterbird of Africa, southeastern Europe, and Asia, among the heaviest flying birds in the world and notable for its immense wingspan, which it uses to soar effortlessly on thermals.

Appearance

Adults are predominantly white, often tinged with a soft pink blush during the breeding season, with black flight feathers visible in flight, bare pinkish-yellow facial skin, and a large bill that is grayish with a red-orange to yellow pouch. Legs are pinkish. Males are noticeably larger than females.

Key field marks

• Overwhelmingly white plumage with contrasting black flight feathers seen in flight
• Bare pink facial skin and a pink-tinged flush on the body in breeding season
• Massive size and one of the longest wingspans of any bird
• Often seen fishing cooperatively in coordinated lines or circles

Similar species

Dalmatian Pelican is grayer-white overall with curly nape feathers and a duller, grayish bill, lacking the pink facial skin and body flush of Great White Pelican. Pink-backed Pelican is considerably smaller and grayer with a shaggy crest. Range and structural differences generally make separation straightforward with good views.

Habitat and range

Great White Pelicans breed colonially on islands in large lakes, river deltas, and coastal lagoons across sub-Saharan Africa, with additional populations in southeastern Europe and across central and southern Asia.

Migration

African populations are largely resident or make local movements tied to water levels and food availability, while Eurasian breeding populations are migratory, moving to wintering grounds in Africa and South Asia. The species relies on large expanses of open water and undisturbed breeding islands.

Behavior

Great White Pelicans frequently fish cooperatively, forming lines or horseshoe formations to drive fish into shallow water where they can be scooped up efficiently with the expandable throat pouch. They are powerful soarers, using thermals to travel long distances with minimal flapping.

Voice

Adults are mostly silent away from colonies, though low grunting and croaking calls are given at nest sites, and colonies can be noisy with the calls of chicks.

Nesting and breeding

They nest in dense colonies on the ground on predator-free islands, laying two eggs. Both parents share incubation and chick-feeding duties, and colonies can number in the thousands of pairs where suitable habitat allows.