Habitat
Large, warm, shallow fresh, brackish, alkaline or saline lakes, lagoons, marshes, broad rivers, deltas, estuaries and coasts of landlocked seas, with extensive reedbeds, wetswamps, mudflats and sandbanks, or gravel and rocky areas for nesting.
Afghanistan (NB) (P), Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria (B) (NB) (P), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Cyprus (NB) (P), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B), Ghana, Greece (B) (NB) (P), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hungary (E) (B), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB), Iraq (NB), Israel (NB) (P), Italy, Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya (B), Kuwait (B), Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania (B), Montenegro (E) (NB), Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia (B), Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (Central Asian), Russia (European) (B) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal (B), Serbia (E) (NB), Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Turkey (B) (NB) (P), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (B) (P), Uzbekistan (B), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia (B), Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Algeria, Austria, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Maldives, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara.
Breeds eastern Europe to western Mongolia, wintering (?) north-eastern Africa and Iraq to northern India; also resident in Africa south of Sahara and at single sites in north-western India and southern Viet Nam.
Population
Estimated population is 270,000 - 290,000 (2010).
Status LC
Habitat destruction through drainage, river divergence for irrigation, agricultural development, and hunting are the main threats. Disturbance at the breeding colonies, pesticides, pollution and disease are also contributing factors.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Mainly fish. Also, gulls, gannets chicks and ducklings.
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) [XC820417]
by Marco Dragonetti from Jurilovca, Jurilovca, Tulcea, Romania (call)
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) [XC530955]
by Remco Hofland from Dagana, Saint-Louis Region, Senegal (begging call, hatchling or nestling)
Nest
A shallow scrape, or a pile of sticks or vegetation, on theground. In colonies, often with other species (eg. Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)).
Subspecies
Some African and Asian populations have been classified as Pelecanus roseus (Rosy Pelican), but strong individual variation, and both subdivision and denomination now obsolete.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet