Scientific name:
Pelecanidae

Natural spread:
Australia, New Guinea

co seven types contains the family of the pelicans the mightiest birds under the Ruderfüßern. Pelicans have big, very wide and long, wings, a mighty beak, whose top forms the cover for a very expansive Kehlsack as it were between the flexible lower jaw-branches, and short legs with short feet, whose 4 toes all through swimming-skins among each other interconnected is. Although pelicans work quite heavily, however, they are skillful and persevering planes, that along-sail "elegantly" or can "row" powerfully. The big head rests during the flight on the shoulders.

its bones pass through strongly from airspaces, also big airbags provide a low specific weight under the skin. Only at the takeoff, pelicans of some difficulties have and work "awkwardly", if they take attempt longer with difficulty to get buoyancy all the sufficiently. Over bigger distances, pelicans move in closed formation there, with what they gladly also stagger themselves wedge-shaped.

Social-behavior, nutrition Extremely strongly, the social cohesion of these big birds is developed: Pelicans brood together (often several types together socializes) and go in also for the haul together mostly. Downright "marksperson-chains" shoo away the loot-animals on that occasion under wing-palpitation into the flat water where the birds with its huge Kescherschnäbeln scoop (the Kehlsack of the pink-pelican holds approximately 13 liters of water) out the fish downright. The fish are swallowed with the head in front; usually, it is about smaller types economically uninteresting for the human being.

Shape The plumage of the pelicans is mainly with exception of the brown pelican knows, the wing-ends are more or less gloomily (hand-swing-tops or the entire energy-feathers as well as the Armschwingen) colored. Male birds become bigger than its females and have a longer beak.

System All pelican-types are put into a type; fossil, well 30 millions year old remains died out types show very many agreements with the present-day forms so that they are also assigned to the same type Pelecanus by many researchers.

In Europe, 2 types live: Kraus-head-pelican and pink-pelican. A purely Australian type (including Tasmania) is the 160 cm big glasses-pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), while that long gray-pelicans (P) by 155 cm. philippensis, Asia's (from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka as far as to South-China as well as as far as to the Philippines and Java) coasts live in. Africa is the home of the approximately 145 cm long Rötelpelikans (P). rufescens; the rhinoceros-pelican big until 175 cm (P). erythrorhynchus, lives on the other hand at North America's (British Columbia until Texas) western coasts.