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Non-breeding adult wintering in California. American white pelicans nest in colonies of several hundred pairs on islands in remote brackish and freshwater lakes of inland North America. The most northerly nesting colony can be found on islands in the rapids of the Slave River between Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta, and Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
The breeding colony at Lake Rukwa, Tanzania is the largest known breeding colony in Africa, followed by the Lake Shala, Ethiopia colony which is probably of crucial importance to the species in Africa. [20] The African population of about 75,000 pairs of the great white pelican is resident. [21]
Many large breeding colonies have been recorded and several have disappeared over time. In June 1906, C E Rhenius visited a colony in Kundakulam in Tirunelveli district where the villages considered the birds semi-sacred. [9] The same colony was revisited in 1944, and was found to have about 10 nests of pelicans and nearly 200 nests of painted ...
Colony nesting may be an evolutionary response to a shortage of safe nesting sites and abundance or unpredictable food sources which are far away from the nest sites. [4] Colony-nesting birds often show synchrony in their breeding, meaning that chicks all hatch at once, with the implication that any predator coming along at that time would find ...
A brown pelican opening mouth and inflating air sac to display tongue and some inner bill anatomy American white pelican with knob which develops on bill before the breeding season An adult brown pelican with a chick in a nest in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, US: This species will nest on the ground when no suitable trees are available. [49]
Renesting may occur if eggs are lost from the nest early in the breeding season. [52] There are usually two to three, or sometimes even four, oval eggs in a clutch, and only one brood is raised per year. [24] [55] The egg is chalky white, [53] and can measure about 76 mm (3.0 in) in length and 51 mm (2.0 in) in width. [24]
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Compared to the great white pelican, the Dalmatian is not as tied to lowland areas and will nest in suitable wetlands with many elevations. It is less opportunistic in breeding habitat selection than the great white, usually returning to a traditional breeding site year after year unless it becomes completely unsuitable.