Brown pelican
Scientific name: Pelecanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766
Overview
The brown pelican is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.
From the Wikipedia article “Brown pelican”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Size and lifespan
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Adult weight (male) | 3.7 kg |
| Adult weight (female) | 3.17 kg |
Source: Wikidata, citing “Locomotor mechanisms of birds”, scientific article published in 1961.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Caribbean; Middle America; North America; South America.
Common names
Names in other languages (13)
- Arabic
- بجعة بنية
- Bengali
- বাদামি গগণবেড়
- Chinese
- 褐鵜鶘
- French
- Pélican brun
- German
- Braunpelikan
- Hindi
- Brown Pelican
- Indonesian
- Undan coklat
- Japanese
- カッショクペリカン
- Persian
- پلیکان قهوهای
- Portuguese
- pelicano, pelicano-pardo
- Russian
- Американский бурый пеликан
- Spanish
- Pelícano pardo
- Turkish
- Kahverengi pelikan
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, measurements, names in other languages. Q208714, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Brown pelican”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Terry Foote, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026