10 Facts About Pelicans

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae.

Pelicans described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet.

Pelicans give their name to the Pelecaniformes, an order which has a varied taxonomic history.

Oldest known record of Pelicans is a right tibiotarsus very similar to those of modern species from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Wadi El Hitan in Egypt, dating to the late Eocene, referred to the genus Eopelecanus.

Pelicans are very large birds with very long bills characterised by a downcurved hook at the end of the upper mandible, and the attachment of a huge gular pouch to the lower.

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Pelicans have mainly light-coloured plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans.

Pelicans fly low over stretches of water, using a phenomenon known as ground effect to reduce drag and increase lift.

Pelicans have been persecuted by humans for their perceived competition for fish, despite the fact that their diet overlaps little with fish caught by people.

Pelicans fell in love with a woman he thus saved, but her friends and she tricked him and escaped.

Pelicans have featured extensively in heraldry, generally using the Christian symbolism of the pelican as a caring and self-sacrificing parent.