Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
About the Australian Pelican
The Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is a large waterbird in the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand. It is a predominantly white bird with black wings and a pink bill. It has been recorded as having the longest bill of any living bird. It mainly eats fish, but will also consume birds and scavenge for scraps if the opportunity arises. The Australian pelican was first described by Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin verb conspicere, meaning 'to behold', and refers to the 'spectacled' appearance created by its conspicuous eye markings.
A real field recording of the Australian Pelican. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
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Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.
1 recording on this page · licensed CC BY ×1 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Australia · xeno-canto lists 10 recordings for this species in total.
Similar species
- American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchosrecording
- Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalisprofile
- Dalmatian PelicanPelecanus crispusprofile
- Great White PelicanPelecanus onocrotalusprofile
- Peruvian PelicanPelecanus thagusprofile
- Pink-backed PelicanPelecanus rufescensprofile
Species grouped by shared genus, family and range.