Great White Pelican

Pelecanus onocrotalus (Linnaeus, 1758)

2020-11-21 Ozernoye	© Philippe Campeau

Biology

Rare breeding migrant. Inhabits large fish reservoirs with reed beds. Usually nests in large colonies sometimes numbering hundreds or thousands of pairs. During migration occurs mainly in large flocks. Appears nearly two weeks after Dalmatian Pelican, at end February - March, when water is still partially frozen. Latest migrants recorded mid-May. Breeding begins soon after arrival. Nests are usually built on dry heaps of reed, less often on sandy or stony islands of large lakes (e.g. on Balkhash lake) from dry reed stems and leaves. Both parents build it for 2-3 days. Clutches of 2 eggs usual, less often of 1 or 3 eggs found mid-April – early May. Both parents incubate. Juveniles hatch after 33-39 days, at the end of May – early June and take flight at beginning of August. After breeding birds disperse widely. Autumn migration begins after the first frosts. Last birds observed in mid-November.

References

"Птицы Казахстана" том 1. "Наука". Алма-Ата, 1960. Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург. Изд-во Уральского университета, 2000.