Additional Information
English Brown Pelican
Scientific (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Order PELECANIFORMES
Family (Latin) Pelecanidae
Family (English) Pelicans
Other name(s)
Regions NA, MA, SA
Breeding Range Subregions coastal s California to Ecuador including Galápagos (e Pacific Ocean); Maryland through Caribbean (w North Atlantic Ocean)
Nonbreeding Range Subregions n to sw coastal British Columbia, s to n Peru
Countries (BETA) map Anguilla,Turks and Caicos Islands,Guyana,Peru,Netherlands Antilles,Antigua and Barbuda,Brazil,Ecuador - mainland,Virgin Islands,Jamaica,Belize,Bahamas,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Haiti,Costa Rica,Panama,Puerto Rico,Trinidad and Tobago,Suriname,Guatemala,Honduras,Nicaragua,Mexico,El Salvador,Cuba,Montserrat,Canada,Dominican Republic,Colombia,Venezuela,British Virgin Islands,United States - mainland,Ecuador - Galapagos Islands,
Subspecies Group Subspecies Breeding Range
californicus e North Pacific coasts from s California to c Baja California and Gulf of California to wc Mexico
carolinensis w North Atlantic coasts from Maryland (e USA) to Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and coasts of Yucatan Pen. to Panama
murphyi coastal islands off w Colombia and Ecuador
occidentalis coastal West Indies, Swan Is. (far e of Belize), San Andrés and Providencia (far e of Nicaragua) and islands off Caribbean n South America
urinator Galápagos
IUCN Status Code LC (Birdlife factsheet )
Described by Linnaeus, 1766
Sound File(s) link return with Back
German Braunpelikan
French Pélican brun
Chinese 褐鹈鹕
Japanese カッショクペリカン
Russian Бурый пеликан
Spanish Pelícano pardo
Portuguese pelicano-pardo
Bird Data app text Often seen along the shore diving into schools of small fish with bill wide open.
Historical Infonatura static map
Show Breeding Range Codes and IUCN Status Codes
Breeding Range Codes
AF Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN Antarctica
AO Atlantic Ocean
AU Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO Indian Ocean
LA Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO Northern oceans
OR Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)
PO Pacific Ocean
SA South America
SO Southern oceans
TO Temperate oceans
TrO Tropical oceans
Worldwide Worldwide
IUCN Status Codes
EX Extinct
EW Extinct in the wild
CR Critically Endangered
EN Endangered
VU Vulnerable
NT Near Threatened
LC Least Concern
DD Data deficient
NE Not evaluated
PE Probably extinct (informal)
PEW Probably extinct in the wild (informal)