Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Pelicans
Call and song
Recording 1 · call, hatchling or nestling
Recording 2
Recording 3
About the Brown Pelican
Large and conspicuous, gray-brown bird of saltwater habitats. Strictly coastal; rarely seen on inland lakes. Very long bill with pouch for scooping up fish. Forages mainly by diving on fish from above. Frequently cues into fishing activity looking for handouts. Often flies in long lines close to water's surface.
Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made
Where it has been recorded
Recorded in 50 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Brazil
- Canada
- Caribbean Netherlands
- Cayman Islands
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- French Guiana
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- High Seas
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Martinique
- Mexico
- Montserrat
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin (French part)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Singapore
- Sint Maarten
- Suriname
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United States
- Venezuela
- Virgin Islands (British)
- Virgin Islands (U.S.)
