Species Fact Profile: Pink-Backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens)

Pink-Backed Pelican

Pelecanus rufescens (Gmelin, 1789)

Range: Africa, Western Arabian Peninsula
Habitat: Freshwater :ales. Wetlands, Flood Plains, Lagoons, Coastal Bays
Diet: Primarily fish, some amphibians
Social Grouping: Large Flocks, Colonial Breeders (up to 500 pairs)
Reproduction: Breed year round, pairs forming shortly before nesting.  Nest colonially in trees (which may be used for several years in a row, sometimes until the tree collapses) or on the ground.  The nest is a heap of sticks.  Lay 2-3 eggs, incubated and care for by both parents.  Fledge at 10-12 weeks, independent at 3-4 months.
Lifespan: 10 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Body length 125-155 centimeters.  Wingspan 2.15-2.9 meters.  Weight 407 kilograms.  Bill 30-38 centimeters.  One of the smaller pelican species
• Plumage is greyish-white.  The back has a pinkish hue (never achieving the deep pink coloration of flamingos).  The upper portion of the bill is yellow, the pouch is gray
• Primarily forage alone, but sometimes fish cooperatively in small groups.  Fish are approached, then seized in the bill, the pouch scooping up a considerable amount of water along with the fish.  The head is then tilted, allowing the pelican to swallow the fish while draining the water.  The beak can hold approximately 8 liters (2 gallons) of water
• The pouch is also used by parents to hold regurgitated fish for their young to feed out of
• Typically only one chick will survive due to aggression from siblings, competition for food.  Chicks may require food as often as 30 times a day in their first week of life.
• Adults have few major predators.  Chicks - especially those that have been forced out of their nest by siblings, may be predated by leopards, hyenas, jackals, monitor lizards, and various other predators
• May be nomadic in response to changes in local water conditions around range, but do not migrate long distances.  When flying, they travel in a slanted-line formation (taking turns who is in the lead) with their necks tucked in close to their bodies
• Overall common, in decline in some areas due to habitat loss (such as dam construction and the drainage of wetlands) and disturbance of nesting sites, as well as pollution and toxins building up in food fishes
• Once present on Madagascar, now extirpated