Pelecanus onocrotalus
Silhouette: Oscar G. Miranda · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), also known as the eastern white pelican (in contrast to the western pelican of the Americas), rosy pelican or simply white pelican, is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes.
The great white pelican has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species (IUCN). It is listed under Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, Annexure I under the EU Birds Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. It is also listed within 108 Special Protection Areas in the European Union. It occurs within 43 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in its European range. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is applied.
The great white pelican was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Pelecanus onocrotalus. The species... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great White Pelican sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 246 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 74th most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Great White Pelican in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and July–September, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in June.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great White Pelican sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 17
Of the 17 cities where we can rate Great White Pelican sightings, Cape Town ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Rajkot (India, about 30%), Jaipur (India, about 20%) and Dakar (Senegal, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great White Pelican is recorded against all the birds logged in Cape Town (246 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
