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Tuesday 27 August 2013

112. Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)

The Great White Pelican breeds in very localised colonies in parts of southeast Europe, across as far as Kazakhstan; these populations migrate to Africa outside of the breeding season, but there are also resident populations in Africa, India and Pakistan too. Its preferred habitat is coastal swamps and large shallow lakes. It nests colonially, sometimes alongside the slightly larger Dalmatian Pelican which it can resemble in flight, but the Great White Pelican has blacker undersides to its wing flight feathers which contrast strongly with the white of the rest of the underwing.

Great White Pelican, ©Tarique Sani, via Flickr Creative Commons.
Great White Pelican sketch.
I got the proportions of the head a bit wrong, but the body is OK.

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