Read About Pelican Bird

The Pelican Bird is a large-billed bird that is a voracious fish-eater. Here's everything you need to know about it.

Pelican Bird -- Facts

1. Breed:

   Pelicans belong to the genus Pelecanus and the family Pelicanidae. It is a family that contains eight breeds of pelicans.

2. Size:

   Pelicans are very big birds. Their sizes can reach 40 to 60 inches.

3. Life Span:

   Pelicans can live no longer than four to seven years.

4. Varieties:

   There are eight kinds of pelicans, which belong to the family Pelicanidae.

5. Origins:

   Pelicans originated about 40 million years ago, as shown by fossil records. Their fossils have been found everywhere on the earth, except in Antarctica.

6. Physical Traits:

   These are very big birds. They have white to gray plumages with different colored feathers, mostly black. Their long bills are black or orange. The strange thing about pelicans is that their beaks can hold more than their stomachs.

7. Temperament:

   Pelicans are mild birds and do not like to enter into aggression. They are the largest birds in North America, but their dispositions are like those of gentle giants.

8. Trainability:

   Pelicans can be trained for speed and general ability. Training is a very difficult task due to their large size.

Pelican Bird -- Care

1. Habitat:

   Pelicans are aquatic in habitat. They will swim around in the water scouting for fish, and when done, they will roost on its banks.

2. Food:

   Fish is the favorite and only food of the pelican. Larger pelicans feed on larger fish such as trout, carp, catfish, pike, suckers, pickerel and bass.

3. Compatibility:

   Pelicans are highly compatible among their own breed. They will be found hunting together in droves of five hundred to one thousand.

Pelican Bird -- Concerns

1. Benefits:

   Pelicans are sometimes useful to reduce the population of useless fish in the seas. They are very important as retainers of the ecological balance.

2. Liabilities:

   They can be a nuisance to fisherman, and they are known to steal fish from fishing boats. Pelicans being such big birds, can also cause sea accidents.

3. Health Issues:

   Pelicans are generally healthy in themselves; but they may contract digestive problems if eating sick fish.

4. Specific Care Needs:

   Pelicans will not require any human training. These are birds of the aquatic wild, which know very well how to forage for their own fish food and subsist.

5. Special Household Needs:

   Pelicans are normally not kept as pets as they are huge birds. Actually, it is unfair to confine these magnificent birds to your home.

Pelican Bird -- How to Choose

1. What to Look for:

   Pelican babies will be quite fragile and helpless for some hours, but soon they will slowly begin to open their wings. They will grow very quickly.

2. Supplies:

   Pelicans need to be where the fish are. Taken away from such habitat, they may die.

3. Expense:

   Normally pelicans are not considered as pets. Hence, they are not sold in the markets.