Australian Pelican
They have the biggest beak amongst all birds
This beautiful pelican, medium-sized and with a wingspan of almost 2m50, lives on waterways, at coasts and on large bodies of water that contain enough food to support their large collective gatherings.
Their plumage is primarily white with a rim of black feathers on their wings. They have an enormous pink beak that can be up to 50cm long, which is the biggest beak of all among birds.
The Australian Pelican feeds above all on fish but also on everything that it can find in and on water: shellfish, insects and even of other seabirds, like young gulls, which it kills with its beak in a single go. One has even been seen swallowing a puppy that had fallen into the water… The female *lays one or two eggs but, usually, it is the stronger fledgling that survives, cornering all the food that the parents bring. The weaker one then dies of hunger.
Australian Pelican
In Pairi Daiza, you can observe the Australian Pelican.
A less threatened species
- Name: Australian Pelican
- Latin name: Pelecanus conspicillatus
- Origin: Australia, New Guinea, Eastern Indonesia, New Zealand
- IUCN status: Least concerned
- Cites: --
