Pelicans and Allies (W)

From WikiBird

Pelecanidae

A pelican is any of several very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under the beak. They have all four toes webbed.

Pelicans use two different ways to feed. Group fishing, used by white pelicans all over the world. They will form a line to chase schools of small fish into shallow water, and then simply scoop them up. Large fish are caught with the bill-tip, then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head first. Plunge-diving is primarily used by Brown Pelicans.

Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially, the male bringing the material, the female heaping it up to form a simple structure. Pairs are monogamous for a single season but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area; away from the nest mates are independent.

• Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
• Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens)
• Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
• Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis)
• Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
• American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
• Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
• Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)