Talk:American white pelican

Rough-billed Pelican

I do not know the source for this common name being applied to Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, but it is not mentioned by any of the major taxonomic or nomenclatural authorities cited by Avibase-the world bird database, including the AOU Check-list, Birdlife, Clements, Howard and Moore, Handbook of the Birds of the World, IOC World Bird Names, Morony et al., or Sibley and Monroe. That being the case, I am deleting it from the text. John Trapp (talk) 15:57, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Questionable text

This text was at the end of the article:

Photographs in the dozens of this species can be used here or for any non-profit environmental educational effort from the web site http://birdsofsanibel.free.fr/. The photographer, Peter Wallack, has the cover and 18 full pages in the March 2005 book publication "National Geographics Field Guide To The Birds of Florida."

This seems like promotional material that doesn't belong in an article about a particular species of pelican. 24.148.136.181 18:44, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

I changed the statement "This species is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1972" to "Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918" because I feel that this is what the author was trying to say. The law originated in 1918; it was amended in 1972, but this did not affect the pelican. Note: The MBTA of 1918 covers almost all American bird species, plus quite a few non-native species, so this info is probably not especially important to this article. Read more here: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtintro.html --Greensheep 23:07, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Wintering

I commonly see white pelicans in the vicinity of Alton IL all winter. They inhabit the backwaters along with swans, Canadian geese and various ducks. they also live all across south east america dering the winter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.96.14 (talk) 14:33, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Nesting Colonies

I'm not sure what you'd call a colony, but we have 20-30 White Pelicans summering on our lake from ice-out through mid-Autumn. This is in the Grand Rapids, MN, vicinity, some 120 miles south of Ontario, where this article claims is the southernmost nesting area. Emmetlang (talk) 14:23, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Behavioral Ecology Assignment

Hello, I am reviewing this article for a class assignment. This article is pretty good, containing a lot of information about the birds’ physical descriptions, distribution and ecology, and even mentioning conservation and habitat loss relating to the birds. The two short paragraphs about “Reproduction” mentioned how both parents were involved in incubating. In my textbook’s chapter on Parental Care and Family Conflicts, the birds were a specific example for obligate siblicide, meaning that although the mother lays two eggs, the older sibling always kills the younger sibling, which most likely means that the second egg is simply an insurance in case the first egg never hatched. This hypothesis was tested: “experimental removal of the second egg leads to reduced reproductive success.” The Wikipedia article simply glosses over this by saying how the young leave the nest after three weeks, and “at this point, usually only one young per nest has survived.” This could be a good article to expand.

Ihyuan (talk) 19:49, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Hi Ihyuan, you are welcome to get stuck into expanding it. Give me a yell for any specific advice. (PS: I moved your comment to the bottom as all new comments go at the bottom) Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 22:11, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

External links modified

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Breeding age missing

I came looking for the age when pelican start breeding, but did not find it... FatBear1 (talk) 20:47, 27 April 2019 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment

This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Washington University supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2012 Fall term. Further details are available on the course page.

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Southernmost confusion

The following passage is confused and contradictory about north and south: "About 10–20% of the population uses Gunnison Island in the Great Basin's Great Salt Lake as a nesting ground. The southernmost colonies are in southwestern Ontario and northeastern California.[2] Nesting colonies exist as far south as Albany County in southern Wyoming." Citizen127 (talk) 17:21, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Pelecanus erythrorhynchos at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for April 17, 2024. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2024-04-17. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you!  — Amakuru (talk) 13:18, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Costa Rica, in winter. Along with the trumpeter swan, it is one of the longest birds native to North America, with an overall length of about 50 to 70 inches (130 to 180 cm). The beak measures 11.3 to 15.2 inches (290 to 390 mm) in males and 10.3 to 14.2 inches (260 to 360 mm) in females, while its wingspan is around 95 to 120 inches (240 to 300 cm). The American white pelican does not dive for its food as some other pelican species do, instead catching its prey while swimming. Each bird eats more than 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of food a day, predominantly fish, which ranges from the size of minnows to 3.5-pound (1.6 kg) pickerels. This adult American white pelican in non-breeding plumage was photographed at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds in San Rafael, California.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg

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Range

According to this source https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/local/pelicans-are-common-sight-work-well-in-teams/article_de160862-b396-11eb-a864-57f9ba554b26.html

"American white pelicans are back and in greater numbers.

They have become a common site in Thunder Bay, and according to Brian Ratcliff, the In Flight columnist for The Chronicle-Journal, these birds have been in Northwestern Ontario for hundreds of years.

Originally nesting on Lake of the Woods, one nest was found in Lake Nipigon in 1991. The last survey in about 2009 showed there were around 750 pairs nesting there. They have been nesting on Lake Superior near Thunder Bay over the last 10-12 years.

Ratcliff says the birds migrate south to the Gulf of Mexico and return in early April. As soon as the ice goes away, they are back and have been back for about a month.

But the range map does not include Thunder Bay nor Lake Nipigon. 2607:F2C0:E7AA:7E8:715B:7B3B:47B2:955F (talk) 20:05, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

Article issues and classification

While I am sure there are exceptions within the B-class criteria. The lead, as the "first thing most people read" is considered important. It should stand on its own as a concise version of the article. This seems unlikely with a one paragraph lead.

The "External links" section has grown to seven entries. This could be reviewed for trimming or possibly incorporating one or more into the article. -- Otr500 (talk) 14:25, 16 October 2024 (UTC)