What does a pelican’s beak look like?

What does a pelican’s beak look like?

A pelican has a massive long beak. 

The beak has an upper mandible (top half of its beak) and a lower mandible (lower half of its beak).

The beak can grow to 47 centimetres (19 inches) in length. 

At the tip of the upper mandible is a hook, called a crochet or a bill-tip. The crochet helps the pelican grip onto slippery fish to eat. A pelican catches large fish with its crochet, tosses it into the air, and lets it slide down the gullet of its open mouth.  

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Spot-Billed Pelican

The Spot-Billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) is a large freshwater waterbird. It is also called the Grey Pelican.

The Spot-Billed Pelican is mainly white, with a grey crest and grey back of neck. It has a brownish tail. The feathers on the back of its neck are curly. Its pouch is pinkish-purple with large pale spots. It is also spotted on the sides of its upper mandible (jaw). It has a yellow-orange tip on its beak. It looks similar to the Dalmatian Pelican.

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Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is a large, water bird, living in wetlands.

The Australian Pelican is mostly white, with black wings. It has a white panel on the upper wing and a white V-shape on its back. It has a very large pale-pink beak with a pale-pink pouch. Its eye-ring is pale-yellow. Its eye-ring turns yellow-orange, and the beak changes colour to blue, pink, or red, in the breeding season. Its beak has a small hook at the tip. Its eyes are brown and yellow and its feet are blue-grey, with four webbed toes.

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African Great Egret

The Great Egret (Ardea alba) is also known as the Common Egret, Large Egret, Great White Egret or Great White Heron. It is a large, common egret found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. It is a member of the heron family. It is closely related to pelicans.

The African Great Egret (Ardea alba melanorhynchos or Casmerodius albus melanorhynchos) is found in the wetlands of tropical Africa.

The African Great Egret has all white feathers, and a long, thin, yellow beak, which may become darker in the breeding season. It has a fine black line from its beak to beyond its eye (like eye-liner underneath the eye). It has black legs and feet.

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What’s the Difference between Pelicans: Dalmatian, Australian, Great White, and Pink-Backed?

Pelicans are large white, water birds with long beaks and a large throat pouch.

The Dalmation Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) lives in the Northern Hemisphere, from south-eastern Europe to India and China. It has dirty-grey feathers, with curly feathers on its neck, a pale pink beak with a pale-yellow pouch, pale blue eyes with a white eye-ring, and grey legs. It is the largest pelican. It is 1.6-1.8 metres (4.6-5.7 feet) long with a wingspan of 2.7-3.2 metres (8.9-10.5 feet).

The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) lives in the Southern Hemisphere, in Australian and some surrounding islands, such as Fiji. It has neat features with distinctly black back feathers, a pink beak with a pink pouch, and black eyes with a yellow eye-ring. It is 1.6-1.9 metres (5.2-6.2 feet) long with a wingspan of 2.5-3.4 metres (8.2-11.2 feet).

Dalmatian and Australian Pelican

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Striated Heron

The Striated Heron (Butorides striata) also known as the Green-Backed Heron, is a small hunched wetlands bird from the tropical regions of the world, mainly in the southern hemisphere, including west Africa, Japan, Australia, and South America.

The Striated Heron is greenish grey, with a white underbelly, a black cap, and short yellow legs. Its neck is short which makes it looked hunched over. It has a long beak, that has a black upper mandible and a yellow lower mandible.

It can grow to 40-48 centimetres (16-19 inches) tall.

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