Pelecanus philippensis
Silhouette: Oscar G. Miranda · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes. At a distance they are difficult to differentiate from other pelicans in the region although it is smaller but at close range the spots on the upper mandible, the lack of bright colours and the greyer plumage are distinctive. In some areas these birds nest in large colonies close to human habitations.
The spot-billed pelican was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other pelicans in the genus Pelecanus and coined the binomial name Pelecanus philippensis. Gmelin based his description on "Le pélican des Philippines" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. Brisson's specimen had been collected on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The spot-billed pelican is a... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Mysuru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Tiruppur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Hyderabad | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Tiruchirappalli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Madurai | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zlín-Lešná Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Nandankanan Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Arignar Anna Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Khao Kheow Open Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Planète Sauvage | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Safari World | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Bannerghatta Zoo | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Gembira Loka Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 11 | Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 12 | Thiruvananthapuram Zoo | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Children's Park, Guindy | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Amirthi Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 15 | Bioparc Fuengirola | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 16 | Farm in the City | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 17 | Johor Zoo | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 18 | Bird Park | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 19 | Mořský svět | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 20 | Singapore Miniature Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 21 | Svět medúz | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Pelican sighting in Kaziranga National Park on a given day, based on 1,634 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 323 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Pelican in Kaziranga National Park on a given day, against about 50% in August and September, the lowest months. That is one of Kaziranga National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 520 mm in June. June and July have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey Pelican sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Grey Pelican sightings, Kaziranga National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 40%) and Udawalawe National Park (Sri Lanka, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Pelecaniformes
The closest relatives of the Grey Pelican that you can see in Kaziranga National Park (order Pelecaniformes, Pelicans, Herons, Ibises, and Allies) are Indian Pond Heron (about 80%), Great Egret (about 70%) and Little Egret (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey Pelican is recorded against all the birds logged in Kaziranga National Park (1,634 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
