Dalmatian pelican

Pelecanus crispus

The Dalmatian pelican, Pelecanus crispus, is the largest of the pelicans and, with a wingspan of three metres, is an excellent flyer. Its numbers are declining, mainly due to pollution and the disappearance of wetlands.

Lifestyle

The Dalmatian pelican is gregarious: it lives, moves, fishes and nests in colonies, without any hierarchy.

It spends the winter in India or Egypt. In March, upon returning from migration, the male brings various materials to the female for nest building. Both take turns incubating the eggs. The chicks are naked when they hatch. For the first two weeks, they are fed regurgitated fish porridge. Later, they will pick it themselves from the throat of one of their parents. As soon as they start to leave the nest, they gather in a nursery.

Pelicans' fishing technique is astonishing: gathering in shallow water, dozens of pelicans surround a school of fish and drive it towards the shore. All their beaks open at the same time and the prey is caught in their throat pouch! The 12 litres of water are then expelled and the fish swallowed head first! Only the brown pelican, which lives along the American coastline, catches its prey by diving headfirst.é.

Distinctive features

The Dalmatian pelican is the largest of the eight species of pelicans. The expandable pouch, which hangs beneath its hooked beak, turns red during the breeding season.

Pelicans appear large but weigh much less than one might imagine thanks to their hollow bones, which lighten their skeleton. They are excellent flyers and can travel over 400 km per day by using warm updrafts. Like geese, they fly in a V formation, which is more energy efficient because each bird leads the way for the next, giving it better air penetration. The lead bird is replaced in turn.

Anecdote

Seeing the young birds rummaging in their parents' throats and pulling out bloody pieces of fish, the man may have thought that the adult was offering its own flesh to its offspring... The pelican thus became the poetic symbol of parental love and sacrifice!

Pelican colonies have never been popular with fishermen, who have persecuted them for a long time. Pollution, pesticide poisoning, agricultural expansion, wetland drainage and reed harvesting, forcing pelicans to leave their nesting sites, are new threats, and many populations are in decline.