Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Kingdom: Animalia

Class: Aves

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Pelecanidae

Listing Status:  (and others listed below)

Quick links:Federal RegisterRecoveryCritical HabitatConservation PlansPetitionsLife HistoryOther Resources

General Information

The adult brown pelican is a large dark gray-brown water bird with white about the head and neck. Immatures are gray-brown above and on the neck, with white underparts. Although the Caribbean subspecies resembles the eastern subspecies, the Caribbean brown pelican has a darker non-breeding plumage above the surface. The Caribbean pelican usually also has a darker undersurface plumage during breeding than does the eastern brown pelican. Both subspecies can reach up to 8 pounds and larger individuals have wing spreads of over 7 feet.

Population detail

The FWS is currently monitoring the following populations of the Brown pelican 

• Population location: Entire, except U.S. Atlantic coast, FL, AL
  Listing status:  Endangered
  
  • This population has been proposed for delisting
  • States/US Territories in which this population is known to occur:  Arizona , California , Louisiana , Mississippi , Oregon , Puerto Rico , Texas , Virgin Islands , Washington
  • USFWS Refuges in which this population is known to occur:  ARANSAS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , BANDON MARSH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , BAYOU SAUVAGE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , BIG BOGGY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , BIG BRANCH MARSH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE BILL WILLIAMS RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , BRETON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , CIBOLA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , CULEBRA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , DELTA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , DON EDWARDS SAN FRANCISCO BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , FARALLON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , GRAYS HARBOR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , GREEN CAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , GUADALUPE-NIPOMO DUNES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , HAVASU NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , IMPERIAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , LAGUNA ATASCOSA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , OREGON ISLANDS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SAN BERNARD NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SAN PABLO BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SANDY POINT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SANTA ANA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SEAL BEACH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SHELL KEYS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SILETZ BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , SONNY BONO SALTON SEA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , THREE ARCH ROCKS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , TIJUANA SLOUGH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE , WILLAPA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE  ... Show All Refuges
    
  • Countries in which the this population is known to occur:  Antigua and Barbuda , Aruba , Bahamas , Barbados , Belize , British Virgin Islands , Canada , Cayman Islands , Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominica , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Grenada , Guatemala , Haiti , Honduras , Jamaica , Martinique , Mexico , Netherlands Antilles , Nicaragua , Panama , Peru , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines , Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , Turks and Caicos Islands , Venezuela
  • For more information:  http://www.fws.gov/endangered/factsheets/brown_pelican.pdf
• Population location: U.S. Atlantic coast, FL, AL
  Listing status:  Delisted Taxon-Recovered
  
  • States/US Territories in which this population is known to occur:  Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Maryland , North Carolina , South Carolina , Virginia
  • For more information:  http://www.fws.gov/endangered/factsheets/brown_pelican.pdf
• Population location: Louisiana population
  Listing status:  Under Review
  
  • For more information:  http://www.fws.gov/endangered/factsheets/brown_pelican.pdf

» Federal Register Documents

» Recovery

• Information Search FAQs

» Critical Habitat

No critical habitat rules have been published for the Brown pelican.

» Conservation Plans

» Petitions

» Life History

No Life History information has been entered into this system for this species.

» Other Resources

NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.