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American White Pelican | Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Amerikaanse witte pelikaan | Pelícano blanco americano | Pelicano-branco-americano
The American White Pelican is a very large white pelican that breeds on lakes in the interior of North America and winters south to Central America. Unlike the Brown Pelican it does not dive, but fishes while swimming, often in groups that herd fish together. In the guide area it has been recorded only as a rare vagrant.
Voice
Away from the breeding colonies almost always silent.
Recording: Jonathon Jongsma — CC BY-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
127–165 cm, with a wingspan of over two and a half metres. The plumage is white; in flight the black primaries and outer secondaries stand out, while at rest they are largely hidden. The bill, pouch and legs are yellow-orange. In the breeding season a flat, upright horny plate grows on the upper mandible, which is shed after egg-laying; in winter it is absent. Juveniles have a grey-brown wash over the head, neck and wing coverts and a duller bill. The sexes are alike. It flies with the head drawn in, often in lines, and soars high on thermals.
Confusion species
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis is smaller and grey-brown, also as a juvenile, and fishes by plunge-diving from the air. Peruvian Pelican Pelecanus thagus is dark and lives on the coast. Wood Stork Mycteria americana is also white with black flight feathers in flight, but flies with the neck outstretched and the legs projecting, and has a bare, dark head.
Habitat
Shallow lakes, lagoons, estuaries and salt pans, both inland and on the coast. It fishes while swimming by dipping the head under water, often in groups that herd fish into shallow water. It does not breed in the guide area.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In the guide area only as a vagrant, with just a few records in northern Colombia. Not recorded in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia or the Galápagos. Outside the guide area the species breeds in western and central North America and winters from the southern United States to Mexico, in small numbers to Central America.
How and when to look
A vagrant stands out among other large waterbirds on lagoons and lakes on the Caribbean coast of Colombia; in flight look for the white body with black primaries and the drawn-in head.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The North American population is large and has increased in recent decades.
Scientific name
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos | Gmelin, 1789
Gmelin described the species in 1789 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Pelecanus was introduced in 1758 by Linnaeus. The genus name comes from Greek pelekan, 'pelican', related to pelekus, 'axe'. The species name comes from Greek eruthros, 'red', and rhunkhos, 'bill', after the orange-red bill. The specimen the first description was based on came from Hudson Bay and New York, North America.