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Pink-Backed Pelican | Pelecanus rufescens
Kleine pelikaan | Pelícano rosado
The smallest and greyest pelican of the region, an African species that reaches its northern limit on the Red Sea. Along the coast of south-west Saudi Arabia and Yemen it breeds in small colonies in the mangroves and sits on jetties and at fish markets, often surprisingly tame.
Voice
Almost silent; at the colony low grunts and bill-clattering.
Recording: Alain Malengreau — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
Large, but clearly smaller than the other pelicans, with pale grey plumage, a soft pink tinge to the back and rump and a short, ragged crest. A small dark spot between eye and bill base; bill and pouch pale yellowish-pink to orange, legs yellowish to pink. In flight the underwing is fairly uniform grey with darker primaries, lacking the sharp black-and-white of Great White Pelican. Juveniles are browner, with a brownish head and upper wing.
Confusion species
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is larger and whiter, with all-black flight feathers contrasting sharply in flight and a yellow to orange bare face without a dark loral spot. Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is much larger and silvery white, with a curly crest and grey legs, and is practically absent from south-west Arabia. Juvenile Great White Pelicans are trickier at a distance; note size and underwing pattern.
Habitat
Mangroves, coastal lagoons, harbours, shallow bays and islets along the Red Sea; inland, reservoirs and the Nile with Lake Nasser. Usually fishes alone or in small groups, swimming and plunging the bill into the water, and scavenges at fish markets and fishing boats. Breeds in small colonies in mangroves or other trees over or near water.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
Breeds along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, from around Al Lith and Al Qunfudhah south to Jizan and the Farasan Islands, and along the Tihama coast and on the islands of Yemen; present there year-round, with single birds inland at reservoirs such as Malaki Dam. In Egypt regular in small numbers in Upper Egypt, at Aswan, Abu Simbel and on Lake Nasser. Elsewhere a rare vagrant: in Israel birds have been seen in the Hula and Beit She'an valleys and at fishponds around Haifa Bay and Eilat, including a long-staying bird in 2015 – 2020; in the United Arab Emirates a few times at Ras al Khor (Dubai) and Al Zorah, in Oman once at Raysut (2002), and in Algeria one stayed near Mila and Constantine in 2025 and 2026, the second record for the country. For birds away from the Red Sea and Egypt, escape from captivity cannot always be ruled out. Beyond the region in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Sudan to South Africa.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The corniche and fish market at Jizan and a boat trip to the Farasan Islands give good chances; the birds perch on posts, boats and quay walls. In Egypt it can be seen from a Nile boat between Aswan and Abu Simbel.
Conservation status
Not globally threatened. The small Arabian population depends on the Red Sea mangroves, which are threatened by cutting, coastal development, shrimp farms and pollution; disturbance of colonies also plays a part.
Scientific name
Pelecanus rufescens | 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. Pelecanus is the Latin form of the Greek pelekan 'pelican', which itself derives from pelekys 'axe'. rufescens is Latin for 'reddish' — for the pinkish tinge on the back and flanks in breeding plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from West Africa.