Pelican

Pelican The pelican is a large bird that is most well known for the pouch that the pelican has in it's beak which the pelican uses to scoop fish out if the water. The pelican is found in the countryside worldwide, dwelling near water and densely populated fishing areas. The brown sea pelican is one of the largest species of pelican and with male pelicans often leaving the flock to hunt alone at sea. The brown pelican is particularly remarkable for the it's ability to swoop down to the ocean surface from enormous heights to catch fish. The pelican is generally an enormous bird with some species gaining a wingspan of well over 3meters. Other species of pelican are much smaller but these smaller species of pelican tend to live on land rather than spending their lives at sea. There are eight different species of pelican found on every continent in the world with the exception of the Antarctic. Pelicans tend to prefer the more temperate and warmer climates to the colder ones, and pelicans are therefore most commonly found closer to the Equator. Despite the fact that pelicans are omnivorous birds, pelicans mainly feed on fish, crustaceans such as prawns and crabs, small species of turtle and squid. The pelican uses it's beak pouch to scoop a mouth-full of water up and then strains the water out of it's beak leaving the food (such as fish) behind for the pelican to eat. During the breeding season, pelicans nest in colonies and breeding usually begins with a group of male pelicans chasing a single female pelican. The pelican courtship can occur on land, in the air or on water. The male pelican collects materials to build the nest which the female pelican then uses to build the nest either on the ground or in a tree depending on the pelican species. The female pelican lays an average clutch size of 2 eggs which both the female pelican and the male pelican help to incubate. After an incubation period of around a month, the pelican chicks hatch out of their eggs but often, only one pelican chick will survive out of the two. The female pelican feeds her young until they are around 3 months old, although baby pelicans are usually able to walk and swim when they are about 2 months old. Due to their generally large size, pelicans have few predators in their natural environment. Wild dogs such as coyotes are one of the main predators of the pelican along with cats and humans who hunt the pelican for their meat and feathers. Pelicans inhabit areas around the world usually in large flocks of more than 100 birds. Pelicans rest and nest together in these communities but often hunt and feed alone with the exception of the female pelican feeding her pelican chicks. The pelican chicks are known to gather together in small groups within the communial nesting site of their parents......Pelican From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Pelican (disambiguation). Pelican Temporal range: Early Oligocene-Recent, 30–0Ma PreꞒꞒOSDCPTJKPgN Pelikan Walvis Bay.jpg A great white pelican in breeding condition flying in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae Rafinesque, 1815 Genus: Pelecanus Linnaeus, 1758 Type species Pelecanus onocrotalus Linnaeus, 1758 Species 8, see text Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that makes up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America as well as from polar regions and the open ocean. Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are now known to be most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills and herons are more distant relatives, and have been classified in the same order. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back to at least 30 million years to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France. They are thought to have evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas; this is reflected in the relationships within the genus as the eight species divide into Old World and New World lineages. Pelicans frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing. They have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography. Contents [hide] 1 Taxonomy and systematics 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Taxonomy 1.3 Fossil record 1.4 Living species 2 Description 2.1 Air sacs 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Behaviour and ecology 4.1 Feeding 4.2 Breeding and lifespan 5 Status and conservation 5.1 Populations 5.2 Culling and disturbance 5.3 Poisoning and pollution 5.4 Parasites and disease 6 Religion, mythology, and popular culture 6.1 Christianity 6.1.1 Heraldry 6.2 Modern usage 7 Notes 8 References 8.1 Cited texts 9 External links Taxonomy and systematics[edit] Etymology[edit] The genus Pelecanus was first formally described by Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet. This early definition included frigatebirds, cormorants, and sulids as well as pelicans.[1] The name comes from the Ancient Greek word pelekan (πελεκάν),[2] which is itself derived from the word pelekys (πέλεκυς) meaning "axe".[3] In classical times, the word was applied to both the pelican and the woodpecker.[4] Taxonomy[edit] Main article: Pelecaniformes § Systematics and evolution Pelicans give their name to the Pelecaniformes, an order which has a varied taxonomic history. Tropicbirds, darters, cormorants, gannets, boobies and frigatebirds, all traditional members of the order, have since been reclassified: tropicbirds into their own order, Phaethontiformes, and the remainder into Suliformes. In their place, herons, ibises, spoonbills, the hamerkop and the shoebill have now been transferred into Pelecaniformes.[5] Molecular evidence suggests that the shoebill and the hamerkop form a sister group to the pelicans,[6] though there is some doubt as to the exact relationship between the three lineages.[7] Suliformes Pelecaniformes Herons (Ardeidae) Ibises and spoonbills (Threskiornithidae) Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) Pelicans (Pelecanus) Cladogram based on Hackett et al. (2008).[5] Closest living relatives Head of a hamerkop Hamerkop Head of a shoebill Shoebill Fossil record[edit] The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 30 million years; the oldest known pelican fossil was found in Early Oligocene deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France and is remarkably similar to modern forms.[8] Its beak is almost complete and is morphologically identical to that of present day pelicans, showing that this advanced feeding apparatus was already in existence at the time.[8] An Early Miocene fossil has been named Miopelecanus gracilis on the basis of certain features originally considered unique but later thought to lie within the range of inter-specific variation in Pelecanus.[8] The Late Eocene Protopelicanus may be a pelecaniform or suliform – or a similar aquatic bird such as a pseudotooth (Pelagornithidae).[9] The supposed Miocene pelican Liptornis from Patagonia is a nomen dubium (of doubtful validity), being based on fragments providing insufficient evidence to support a valid description.[10] Fossil finds from North America have been meagre compared with Europe, which has a richer fossil record.[11] Several Pelecanus species have been described from fossil material, including:[12] Pelecanus cadimurka, Rich & van Tets, 1981 (Late Pliocene, South Australia)[13] Pelecanus cautleyi, Davies, 1880 (Early Pliocene, Siwalik Hills, India)[12] Pelecanus fraasi, Lydekker, 1891 (Middle Miocene, Bavaria, Germany)[12] Pelecanus gracilis, Milne-Edwards, 1863 (Early Miocene, France) (see: Miopelecanus)[12] Pelecanus halieus, Wetmore, 1933 (Late Pliocene, Idaho, US)[14] Pelecanus intermedius, Fraas, 1870 (Middle Miocene, Bavaria, Germany)[12] (transferred to Miopelecanus by Cheneval in 1984) Pelecanus odessanus, Widhalm, 1886 (Late Miocene, near Odessa, Ukraine)[15] Pelecanus schreiberi, Olson, 1999 (Early Pliocene, North Carolina, US)[11] Pelecanus sivalensis, Davies, 1880 (Early Pliocene, Siwalik Hills, India)[12] Pelecanus tirarensis, Miller, 1966 (Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene, South Australia)[16] Living species[edit] The eight living pelican species were traditionally divided into two groups, one containing four ground-nesters with mainly white adult plumage (Australian, Dalmatian, great white, and American white pelicans), and one containing four grey or brown plumaged species which nest preferentially either in trees (pink-backed, spot-billed and brown pelicans), or on sea rocks (Peruvian pelican). The largely marine brown and Peruvian pelicans, formerly considered conspecific,[17] are sometimes separated from the others by placement in the subgenus Leptopelicanus[18] but in fact species with both sorts of appearance and nesting behavior are found in either. DNA sequencing of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes yielded relationships quite different; the three New World pelicans formed one lineage, with the American white pelican sister to the two brown pelicans, and the five Old World species the other. The Dalmatian, pink-backed and spot-billed were all closely related to one another, while the Australian white pelican was their next-closest relative. The great white pelican also belonged to this lineage but was the first to diverge from the common ancestor of the other four species. This finding suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas, and that preference for tree- or ground-nesting is more related to size than genetics.[19]