American White Pelican – Loafing Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

November – Texas

L=62”......WS=108”......WT=16.4 lb
Order: Pelecaniformes (Totipalmate Birds)
Family: Pelecanidae (Pelicans)

American White Pelicans winter along warm southern coasts. They gather at foraging and adjacent loafing sites favorite sites are shallow marshes, rivers, and lake edges). 

The continental population of White Pelicans was considered threatened until the early 1960s by combinations of changing water levels, human disturbance, and possibly contaminants. The population has since recovered and continues to increase at &gt;3%/year