Brown Pelican

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Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Brown Pelican

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Brown Pelican

The map shades 48 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Brazil.

About the Brown Pelican

The brown pelican is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchosThe American white pelican rivals the trumpeter swan, with a similar overall length, as one of the longest birds native to North America. Australian PelicanPelecanus conspicillatusThe Australian pelican is medium-sized by pelican standards, with a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.6 m (7.5 to 8.5 ft). Great White PelicanPelecanus onocrotalusThe great white pelican is a huge bird—only the Dalmatian pelican is, on average, larger among pelicans.

Side by side: American White Pelican vs Brown Pelican · Australian Pelican vs Brown Pelican · Brown Pelican vs Great White Pelican