American White Pelican
The American White Pelican is a large seabird that lives in North America. These big white birds breed across much of the central U.S. and into Canada. They winter across the southwest and American southeast, including Florida, and through much of Central America.
American White Pelicans, like other species of pelican, have enormous bills which are flat on top and have a soft sac along the bottom. These birds feed by catching prey, typically fish, as they swim. They often feed together in cooperative groups.
The population trend for the American White Pelican is increasing and the species has a conservation status of Least Concern as of December 2023. Males and females look alike, though males are typically larger in size.
Details & Statistics
- Least Concern (LC)
- Near Threatened (NT)
- Vulnerable (VU)
- Endangered (EN)
- Critically Endangered (CR)
- Extinct in the Wild (EW)
- Extinct (EX)
Conservation
The American White Pelican is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
International Names
