American white pelican
A huge white bird with an orange throat pouch that fishes in groups and nests on tiny islands in Yellowstone Lake and other high-country waters.
American white pelican at a glance
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos puh-LICK-un; Pelecanus erythrorhynchos is pel-uh-KAH-nus eh-rith-roh-RIN-kos
- Type
- Bird · waterbirds
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Size
- About four feet tall with a nine-foot wingspan, one of the widest of any North American bird, and its stretchy throat pouch can hold close to 3 gallons, more than a kitchen trash can.
- Lifespan
- More than 16 years on average in the wild; the oldest banded bird on record reached 26.4 years.
- Conservation
- Least concern
Eats rough fish, minnows, small schooling fish, salamanders
A group of pelicans paddles together in a line or half-circle, herding small fish into the shallows, then scoops them up in its pouch, drains out nearly 3 gallons of water, and swallows. It rarely dives from the air the way a brown pelican does.
Should you worry?
Pelicans are not aggressive toward people. Watch a nesting colony from a distance and never approach the islands where they breed. A parent pelican that gets startled off a nest may not return, so noise and closeness are the real risk to the birds, not the other way around.
A line of pelicans forms across a shallow bay, wingtip to wingtip, and starts paddling forward together, herding a school of minnows ahead of them like a slow-motion net. Then, all at once, heads dip and pouches scoop, and the water flashes as a dozen birds swallow within the same second.
Each dip works because of that stretchy orange pouch under the bill, big enough to hold nearly 3 gallons. A pelican drains the water back out through its bill before swallowing whatever fish are left inside, which is why you almost never see one flying with a full pouch.
Almost every pelican doing this at Yellowstone hatched on one of the Molly Islands, two low patches of ground in Yellowstone Lake that together add up to barely an acre, depending on how high the lake is running that year. Birds have nested there since at least 1890, riding out spring floods and freak frosts that can hit any month, on a spot you could walk around in a few minutes.
Did you know?
- The Molly Islands, where nearly all of Yellowstone's pelicans nest, add up to only 0.7 to 1.2 acres depending on the lake's water level, small enough to flood in a single hard spring.
- A pelican's throat pouch can hold almost 3 gallons of water, which it filters out before swallowing the fish left behind.
- Pelicans have nested at the Molly Islands since at least 1890, one of the longest-running colonial bird records in Yellowstone.
Common questions
How big is an American white pelican?
It stands about four feet tall with a wingspan close to nine feet, one of the biggest birds in North America.
Do pelicans hunt alone or in groups?
Often in groups. Several pelicans paddle together to herd fish into shallow water before scooping them up.
Where do American white pelicans nest?
On isolated islands away from land predators. In Yellowstone, almost the whole park population nests on the tiny Molly Islands in Yellowstone Lake.
Are pelicans dangerous to be near?
No, but keep away from nesting islands. A startled parent may abandon its nest, and that is a real risk to the chicks.
What eats American white pelicans?
Gulls, ravens, foxes, and coyotes go after eggs and chicks. Great horned owls and bald eagles take young birds. Adults are big enough to be fairly safe, though coyotes have been known to kill them.