Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Costa Rica, in winter. The American white 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. He coined the binomial name Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. Gmelin based his description on the "rough-billed pelican" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham. Latham had access to three specimens that had been brought to London from New York and the Hudson Bay area of North America. The scientific name means "red-billed pelican", from the Latin term for a pelican, Pelecanus, and erythrorhynchos, derived from the Ancient Greek words erythros (ἐρυθρός) 'red' + rhynchos (ῥύγχος) 'bill'. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The American white pelican rivals the trumpeter swan, with a similar overall length, as one of the longest birds native to North America... Wikipedia →
Wing noise0:08
United States · 2019
© Bruce Lagerquist · XC486233 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Call0:21
United States · 2009
© Andrew Spencer · XC36292 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
Recording2:06
United States · 2025
© Gem · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | SeaWorld Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | World Bird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Auto Safari Chapin | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 13 | Zoofari | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | The Maryland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Greater Vancouver Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 19 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Xcaret | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 21 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 23 | Caldwell Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | San Francisco Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Zoológico Benito Juárez | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 27 | Fort Wayne Children's Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | Great Plains Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Chapultepec Zoo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 31 | Tiergarten Straubing | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 32 | California Living Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | Pueblo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Hutchinson Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Sacramento Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 37 | Salisbury Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | Scovill Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Big Bear Alpine Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | Parque museo La Venta | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 43 | Gran Acuario de Mazatlán "Mar de Cortés" | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 44 | Texas State Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 45 | Mote Marine Laboratory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 46 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 47 | Reino Animal | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 48 | Seaside Seabird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report an American White Pelican sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 5,270 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report an American White Pelican in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–October, the lowest months. Those are among Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's driest months, with about 70 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in September.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American 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.
2nd of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate American White Pelican sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American White Pelican is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (5,270 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.
