Pelecanus philippensis
Silhouette: Oscar G. Miranda · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Pelican sighting in Minneriya National Park on a given day, based on 157 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 75th most-seen of the 155 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Pelican in Minneriya National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month.
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.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Grey Pelican sightings, Minneriya National Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Kaziranga National Park (India, about 70%), 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 Minneriya National Park (order Pelecaniformes, Pelicans, Herons, Ibises, and Allies) are Indian Pond Heron (about 50%), Black-headed Ibis (about 40%) and Great Egret (about 40%), 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 Minneriya National Park (157 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.
