The longest bill
It has the longest bill of any bird: up to half a metre.
The billabong
Australian pelican
Pelecanus conspicillatus
A very big white water bird with black on its wings and an enormous pink bill with a pouch.
- Size
- Wingspan up to 2.6m
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Lakes, rivers and coasts all over Australia
Flaps heavily after you, then settles. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Pelican
Good to know
Six things about the pelican
A fishing net
The pouch scoops up fish and water. It tips the water out, then swallows the fish.
Finding the floods
When rain fills dry lakes in the desert, pelicans somehow know, and fly hundreds of miles to breed there.
Fishing together
Pelicans swim in a line and drive fish into the shallows.
A heavy glider
Though heavy, it soars easily on rising warm air and can stay up all day.
Light bones
Its bones are full of air spaces, so the skeleton is very light for such a big bird.
The real thing
Photos of the pelican
_in_flight_Blanchetown.jpg){kind=link}
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look near fishing jetties and boat ramps, where pelicans wait for scraps, or on sandbars in estuaries.
How to help
Fishing line and hooks injure many pelicans. If you fish, take every bit of line home with you.
Keep going