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Spot-billed Pelican

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iSpot-billed Pelican

Image:Spotbilled pelican.jpg

Conservation status

Image:Status iucn3.1 VU.svg
Vulnerable (VU)

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Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Pelecanidae
Genus:	Pelecanus
Species:	P. philippensis

Binomial name

Pelecanus philippensis
Gmelin, 1789

The Spot-billed Pelican, Pelecanus philippensis is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from India to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially shallow lakes. The nest is a heap of vegetation in a tree. Three to four eggs is the usual clutch size.

The Spot-billed Pelican is a small pelican, at 125-150 cm length. It is mainly white, with a grey crest, hindneck and tail. In breeding plumage, there is a pink tone to the rump and underwings. Non-breeders are off-white in these areas, and immature birds are more extensively brown. As the species' name implies, there are grey spots on the pink bill in the breeding season.

The Spot-billed Pelican is sedentary resident with local movements and is distributed more widely in the non-breeding season. Like most other pelicans, it catches fish in its huge bill pouch while swimming at the surface.

Due to ongoing habitat lost and human disturbances, the Spot-billed Pelican is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2006). Pelecanus philippensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is vulnerable
Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6