Peruvian Pelican

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peruvian Pelican

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Pelecanidae
Genus:	Pelecanus
Species:	P. thagus

Binomial name

Pelecanus thagus
Molina, 1782

Synonyms

Pelecanus occidentalis thagus Molina, 1782

The Peruvian Pelican, Pelecanus thagus, is a member of the pelican family. It lives on the west coast of South America, from Lobos de Tierra Island in Peru to Pupuya Islet in Chile.

These birds are dark in colour with a white stripe from the top of the bill up to the crown and down the sides of the neck. They have long tufted feathers on the top of their heads. It used to be considered a subspecies of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). The Peruvian birds are nearly twice the bulk of the Brown Pelican, averaging 15.4 lb (7 kg) in weight; they are also longer, measuring about 5 ft (1.5 m) overall.

The main breeding season occurs from September to March. Clutch size is usually two or three eggs. Eggs are incubated for approximately 4 to 5 weeks, with the rearing period lasting about 3 months.

This bird feeds on several fish species, showing a strong preference for Peruvian Anchovetas (Engraulis ringens). It feeds by diving into the water from flight, like the Brown Pelican.

Its status was first evaluated for the IUCN Red List in 2008, being listed as Near threatened^[1].