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Pink pelican
Pink pelican
Fishing bird with a large throat like a net.
Type: Chordates
Class: Birds
Order: Pelicans
Family: Pelicans
Genus: Pelicans
Species: Pink Pelican
General Settings
  • The range extends from a tropical area from West Africa and southern Western Europe to Central and South Asia. In Ukraine, they are found in the breeding time in the northern Black Sea region and the Azov region.
  • Body length - up to 1.75 m. Wingspan - up to 3.5 m.
  • Weight - 10-11 kg.
  • Pink pelicans eat a wide variety of fish, giving preference to the largest specimens that can be caught. One pelican needs from 900 to 1200 g of fish per day.
  • Life expectancy in captivity is up to 30 years, in nature it is less.

This spectacular bird got its name due to the pale pink shade of plumage. Moreover, on the abdominal side of the body, the pink color is more intense. When the wings of the pelican are folded, it seems that the color of the whole body is uniform, but the flight feathers are black. But the most noticeable part of its body is, of course, the beak. In males, its length varies from 35 to 47 cm, in females - from 28 to 46 cm. They need such a large tool for catching fish.


Social behavior


Pelicans are schooling birds. It inhabits the shores of fresh and brackish water bodies. All their life activity takes place in each other's society. Interestingly, pink pelicans also hunt together. The size of the flock is from ten to several thousand individuals, depending on the time of year, the type of activity and the number of birds in the area.


Reproduction


In regions with a pronounced seasonality, nesting occurs in spring, in Africa - all year round.There are only 2 eggs in the clutch. Both parents incubate them alternately. Naked and helpless chicks are born at 28-36 days. Their parents feed them semi-digested fish. Kids put on their first downy outfit for 8-10 days. Adult “clothes” appears on 65-75 days. Young birds begin to fly at the age of 2.5 months, and become adults only at 3-4 years.


Species and people


The pelican is a sacred bird for Muslims, since, according to the legend, this feathered giant carried stones in his throat bag for the construction of shrines in Mecca. Some nations depicted Jesus Christ in iconography as a pelican. In the heraldry of European countries, the pelican symbolized selfless parental love. In Scandinavia, the pelican is the emblem of donation - thanks to the legend that these birds tear their breasts with their beaks and feed their chicks with their own blood.


Interesting Facts


The pelican has the largest and most capacious beak in comparison with all the birds on the planet.

Current status in wildlife
  • Not
    evaluated
    NE
  • Data
    deficient
    DD
  • Data
    deficient
    lc
  • near
    threatened
    NT
  • vulnerable
    vu
  • endangered
    en
  • critically
    endangered
    cr
  • extinct
    in the wild
    ew
  • Extinct
    ex
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