American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Summary 3
The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America and South America, in winter. The American white pelican is one of the longest birds native to North America. At 50 to 70 inches long, only the trumpeter swan can rival it. Additionally it has the second largest wingspan of any North American bird, only the California condor has a larger wingspan. The plumage is almost entirely bright white, except the black primary and secondary flight feathers, which are hardly visible except in flight. These birds can be spotted in the COSA during their migration, particularly in February to May
Sources and Credits
- (c) TexasEagle, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/10789832@N00/3400012248
- (c) az3, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/ameetzaveri/15524206395/
- Adapted by dirstine from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelecanus_erythrorhynchos
