American White Pelican

The American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos †) is a very large (50"-70") white bird with black wing tips and an enormous orange bill.

Unlike the Brown Pelican, the American White Pelican does not dive for its food. Instead it practice cooperative fishing[?]. It eats more than 4 pounds of fish a day, mostly carp, chub, shiners[?], perch, catfish, and jackfish[?].

Nests in colonies of several hundred pairs on islands in remote brackish and freshwater lakes of inland North America.

Winters in central California and along the Pacific coast of Guatemala; also along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Shooting by poachers[?] is the largest known cause of mortality.

Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty[?] of 1972.