Bird Photography · The Indian List
Pelicans
1 of 3 species photographed
Three pelicans are on the Indian list. The Spot-billed Pelican is the resident of the three, breeding in colonies in trees at a handful of protected wetlands across the south and east. The Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans are winter visitors, arriving from farther north and gathering on large lakes and reservoirs. All three are big fish-eaters that hunt cooperatively, herding fish into the shallows and scooping them up in the stretchy pouch beneath the bill.
A breeding colony is the best place to see a pelican up close: birds come and go constantly, carrying nest material, feeding young, and squabbling over perches, and the pouch flushes pink and the bill grows a dark spot at the tip in breeding condition. Outside the breeding season pelicans are mostly seen loafing in large, loose groups on open water, often alongside cormorants.
3Species in India
1Photographed
Large lakes, reservoirs and coastal wetlandsWhere to look
Fish, caught cooperativelyWhat they eat
Colonies in trees at protected wetlandsHow they nest
The species
Spot-billed Pelican
Pelecanus philippensis35 frames- Status
- Resident, breeding colonially
- Range
- Scattered wetlands and breeding colonies across southern and eastern India, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana
- Habitat
- Large lakes, reservoirs, marshes and coastal wetlands, with breeding colonies in trees at a small number of protected sites
- IUCN
- Near Threatened
A large grey-brown pelican, named for the bluish-grey spots on its otherwise pale bill, with a shaggy, speckled crest and a pink flush to the throat pouch that deepens in breeding season. It fishes both alone and in loose cooperative groups, and nests colonially in trees, often alongside storks and cormorants, at a small number of protected wetlands. Numbers have fallen with the loss and disturbance of these breeding colonies, and the species is now considered Near Threatened.
FM0332
Ameenpur Lake, Sangareddy, TelanganaStanding on the water among three swimming birds, bill raised.
Dalmatian Pelican
Not yet foundPhotographs by Fareed Mohmed