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Great White Pelican
Pelecanus onocrotalus
52.0069, 5.89824
Field Notes
Description:
Great White Pelicans are large birds with mass of 10 kg (22 lbs), 160 cm (63 in) long and with a 280 cm (110 inch) wingspan. It differs from the Dalmatian Pelican, the only larger species of pelican, by its pure white, rather than greyish-white, plumage, a bare pink facial patch around the eye and pinkish legs. Males are larger than females, and have a long beak that grows in a downwards arc, as opposed to the shorter, straighter beak of the female. Immature birds are grey and have dark flight feathers. In flight, it is an elegant soaring bird, with the head held close to and aligned with the body by a downward bend in the neck. In breeding condition the male has pinkish skin on is face and the female has orangery skin.
Habitat:
Well scattered groups occur from the eastern Mediterranean through to Vietnam and south to South Africa. Sedentary populations are found year-round in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert although these are patchy, occurring mainly in coastal, estuarine areas and around very large inland water bodies. Migratory populations are found from Eastern Europe to Kazakstan during the breeding season and from northeast Africa through Iraq to north India in the winter. More than 50% of Great White Pelicans breed in the Danube Delta in Romania.
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