Hello! We are the Grey Pelicans and we are also called as Spot-billed Pelicans due to the spots present on our bills. If you live in coastal areas of India our South-east Asia, you would have definitely seen us.
Here are some of the interesting things about us
- We have a big and long beak which has a gular pouch. This helps us in scooping out fish from the water. The pouch also helps us in carrying food to our young ones.
- Since we live in tropical areas, it gets hot quite often. We cool ourselves by fluttering our pouch and also by dipping ourselves in water.
- We live together with other pelican species, storks, egrets, and other water birds.
- Unlike these other birds, we are silent and only snap our bills and hiss.
- We live a happy social life in our colonies, and this serves as a beautiful tourist location for humans.
- We are well known in places like Kokrebellur and Uppalapadu from Tamil Nadu, India, and Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary from Karnataka, India. We are also found in many Zoological Parks.
- We perform thermal soaring. It is a type of flight that doesn’t use any efforts from us. We just fly using the hot air currents called thermals with rarely flapping our wings.
- In the Eastern part of Bengal, we were once used by fishermen to find and attract fish.
- Do you know? We are vulnerable species and we are only 8,700-12,000 estimated individuals worldwide. Many conservation efforts are fruitful, and our population is becoming slowly stable.
SOME QUICK FACTS:
Our Scientific Name: Pelecanus philippensis.
Identification: Big bird with a long break. Beak is spotted and lower beak has a gular pouch.
Our Habitat: Shallow lowlands where there is freshwater.
Our Range:
Food Habits: Omnivorous, feed on birds and mainly on fish.
Breeding Period: October – March.
Number of eggs laid: 3 eggs.
Incubation period: About 30 days.
Lifespan: 28 – 32 years.
IUCN red list status: Vulnerable.
CITES: Not Listed
Indian Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule IV
Population count: 8,700-12,000.
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Pelecanidae
Genus: Pelecanus
Species: P. Philippensis
COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT US FOR ANIMAL ENTHUSIASTS:
We are the members of Pelican Family and we are also called Spot-billed Pelicans. Let us tell you more about our species.
Grey Pelicans are scientifically called as Pelecanus philippensis.
How We Look:
We are large birds with a body length of 125cm-152cm and weighing 4.1kg-6kg. Our bodies are mostly white in color with a grey crest, grey hindneck, brown and round tail, greyish nape crest, and yellow-orange bill with a pouch. The pouch is pink to purple in color with large pale spots.
In breeding season, the skin at the base of beak becomes dark and orbital patch becomes pink. Males and females look alike and the young chicks are grey in color with spots on the bill.
We Are Found In:
We prefer living in shallow lowlands where there is freshwater. We are not migratory birds, but we do travel long distances within our local range.
Our range lies in peninsular India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and also in Gangetic Plains of India in winter.
What We Eat:
We are omnivorous birds and feed mainly on fish. We use our bill pouch to catch fish by scooping the water while swimming on the surface of the water.
Our Reproduction:
We live in colonies alongside other water birds. The pair of our species builds a nest on low trees near wetlands using twigs.
The breeding season is in between October and March. The female lays about 3 eggs in intervals of 36-48 hours. Both parents take care of the incubation of eggs and the incubation period is about 30 days.
The young are fed by the parents and they leave the nest after 3-5 months of age. Our expected lifespan is 28-32 years.
More About Us:
We are silent birds, but we hiss and snap our bills when we rest in our nest.
We soar on our thermals on a hot day. It is a type of flight which doesn’t use any efforts from us. We just fly using the hot air currents called thermals with very occasionally flapping our wings.
We cool ourselves using panting and gular fluttering like any other pelican.
Our Conservation:
We are listed as “Vulnerable” in the red list of IUCN and are also protected under schedule IV of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This is because of extreme habitat loss due to various reasons like urbanization, over-fishing, hunting, pollution, diseases, and invasion of other species in our range.
Our population is estimated to be in between 8,700-12,000 individuals. Our scientific name refers to the country Philippines, but we are long extinct in that region. Increased care in several parts of our range shows an increase in our populations.
