Pink-backed pelican

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The pink-backed pelican is one of the smaller of the eight pelican species, Its plumage is white, grey and pink in colour with dark grey wing tips. The top of the beak is yellow and the inside of the pouch pink. Mature individuals have long feather plumes on the back of the head. 2-3 large white eggs are laid in a large stick nest and are incubated for 30 days.

The chicks feed by violently plunging their heads deep into the adult's throat pouch and taking the partially digested regurgitated fish. The main food of pink-backed pelicans is fish, in addition they feed on a variety of small invertebrates and amphibians They usually fish in groups, stretched out in a line to surround a shoal of fish. The pelicans then duck their heads under water at exactly the same time, frightening and confusing the fish which are scooped up in the birds' pouches.

Did you know?
that birds cannot sweat, so when pelicans get hot they cool themselves instead by fluttering air over the moist skin on the inside of their throat pouches?

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	PELECANIFORMES
Suborder	PELECANI
Family	PELECANIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Pelecanus rufescens
Name (English)	Pink-backed pelican
Name (French)	Pélican gris
Name (German)	Rötelpelikan
Name (Spanish)	Pelícano rosado
Local names	Afrikaans: Klein Pelikaan Xhosa: Inegwangube
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Not listed in CMS but falling under AEWA.

Photo Copyright by
Alice Wiegand

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo Dem., Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe Asia: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, vagrant in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Oman
Habitat	Preferably freshwater wetlands, in luding lakes, rivers, ponds and swamps, but sometimes found also along the coast or in alkaline lakes.
Wild population	The global population is estimated to be in the order of 50,000–100,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002).
Zoo population	255 reported to ISIS (2008)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 21 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Doug Janson

Why do zoos keep this animal

The pink-backed pelican is not an endangered species. Zoos keep it primarily for educational reasons, because of evolutionary adaptation in morphology and behaviour to fish catching in social groups. It is also a good ambassador species for wetland conservation and for promoting the African-Eurasian Waterfowl Agreement.

How this animal should be kept

For up to six pelicans an outdoor enclosure with a land surface of at least 60 m², and a pool of at least 50m² and an average depth of 1 m is required. For each additional bird the land and water surfaces should be enlarged by 10 m² each. In cold and temperate climatic zones an indoor facility of 3 m² per bird, but at least 20 m², must be provided.

The diet consists of freshwater or saltwater fish, but also one day old chick may be offered.