They breed from Maryland to Florida, Southern California and Texas south to South America. They winter along the coasts from central California and Virginia south to South America.
They live along the coast in warm places.
They are big birds, up to 4 feet long with a huge beak that has an expandable pouch for catching fish. They have a gray body, a yellow head and white neck and red skin around the eye.
They fly low over the water looking for fish. When they see them, they dive head first, into the water and catch them in the the beak pouch. Then they squeeze out all the water and eat the fish.
They mainly eat fish.
They build large nests of sticks on islands around other nesting birds. Female lays about 3 white eggs.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vetebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Pelecanidae
Genus: Pelecanus
Species: P. occidentalis
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Amsel, Sheri. "Pelican (Brown)" Exploring Nature Educational Resource ©2005-2024. March 25, 2024
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