Pelecanus philippensis Gmelin, 1789

Taxonomic Introduction

The spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis Gmelin, 1789) is a rather large water bird. While it is often one of the largest or the largest native bird in the southern stretches of its range, it is fairly small for a pelican species.

Size Measurements

It measures 125–152 cm (49–60 in) in length, weighs 4.1–6 kg (9.0–13.2 lb), has a wingspan ranging from 213 to 250 cm (7 ft 0 in to 8 ft 2 in), and its characteristically large beak measures 285 to 355 mm (11.2 to 14.0 in).

Adult Plumage

Its plumage is mainly white, with a grey crest, grey hindneck, and a brownish tail. The feathers on the hind neck are curly and form a greyish nape crest.

Bill and Pouch Features

Its pouch ranges from pink to purplish, bears large pale spots, and the sides of its upper mandible also have spots. The tip of the bill (called the nail) is yellow to orange.

Breeding Plumage Traits

When in breeding plumage, the skin at the base of the beak is dark and the orbital patch is pink.

Flight Identification

In flight, it resembles the Dalmatian pelican, but differs in having darker tertials and inner secondaries, a pale band running along the greater coverts, and a rounder tail.

Juvenile Plumage

Newly hatched spot-billed pelicans are covered in white down, then moult into a greyish speckled plumage.

Maturation Markers

Spots on the bill do not appear until the bird is one year old, and full adult breeding plumage develops by the third year.

Breeding Range

The spot-billed pelican only breeds in peninsular India, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia.

Non-breeding Distribution

A small number of birds from India are known to winter in the Gangetic plains, but reported presences in many other parts of the region including the Maldives, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have been questioned.

Habitat Preference

Its primary habitat is shallow lowland freshwaters.

Movement Patterns

This species is not migratory, but it makes local movements and has a wider distribution during the non-breeding season.

General Nesting Habits

It is a colonial breeder that often nests alongside other waterbird species. Nests are built on low trees near wetlands, and sometimes near human habitations.

Colony Status Overview

Many large breeding colonies have been recorded, but several have disappeared over time.

Kundakulam Colony 1906 Account

In June 1906, C E Rhenius visited a colony in Kundakulam, Tirunelveli district, where local villages considered the birds semi-sacred.

Kundakulam Colony 1944 Survey

When the same colony was revisited in 1944, researchers found around 10 pelican nests and nearly 200 painted stork nests.

Sittang River Colony Historical Accounts

In 1877, E W Oates stated that the Sittang River in Burma held "millions" of pelicans, and in 1929 E C Stuart Baker reported that thousands of pelicans still nested there alongside greater adjutant storks.

Sittang River Nesting Site Description

Stuart Baker noted that the entire area consisted of very large trees, with around one in twenty being gigantic wood-oil trees that grew 150 feet or more tall, with smooth, branchless trunks 80 to 100 feet high, which were the trees pelicans selected for nesting.

Stuart Baker Sittang River Observations

He wrote that he walked at least twenty miles across the area until 3 p.m. that day, and was never out of sight of either a pelican or an adjutant nest. Based on his observations and information from Burmese people, he estimated the breeding area extended over a region around twenty miles long and five broad.

Sittang River Colony Disappearance

However, B E Smythies reported that this colony disappeared between the 1930s and 1940s.

Buchupalle Colony Record

Another colony was discovered in 1902 at the village of Buchupalle in Cudappah district, where spot-billed pelicans nested alongside painted storks in March. This colony was never relocated after its discovery.

Kolleru Lake Colony History

The Kolleru Lake colony was discovered by K K Neelakantan in 1946, when nearly 3000 pelicans nested there. This colony disappeared around 1975.

Population Decline Causes

Due to habitat loss and human disturbance, spot-billed pelican numbers have declined, and many populations in Southeast Asia, including parts of China, are now extinct.

Philippine Population History

The species' specific name refers to the Philippines, where it was abundant in the early 1900s, but declined and became locally extinct in the 1960s.

Southern India Population Trend

Populations in southern India are thought to be increasing.

IUCN Red List Status

Estimates suggest increased protection has allowed the species' numbers to recover, so its IUCN Red List status was changed from vulnerable to near threatened in 2007.

Vocalization Traits

Spot-billed pelicans are generally very silent, but they can produce hisses, grunts, or bill snaps at their nests. Some early descriptions of nesting colonies noted that they were unusually quiet, but most sources note that colonies are noisy.

General Feeding Behavior

Like most other pelicans, it catches fish in its large bill pouch while swimming on the water surface. Unlike the great white pelican, it does not form large feeding flocks, and usually forages alone or in small flocks.

Group Foraging Behavior

Groups may sometimes line up to drive fish toward shallow water.

Flight Behavior

When flying to roosts or feeding areas, small groups fly in formation with steady wing flapping. During the hot part of the day, they often soar on thermals.

Foraging Timing

They may forage to some extent at night.

Nest Construction Details

The birds nest in colonies, building nests as thick platforms of twigs placed on low trees.

Breeding Season Timing

The breeding season varies between October and May. In Tamil Nadu, breeding begins after the onset of the northeast monsoon.

Male Courtship Displays

Male courtship displays involve expanding the pouch, swinging the head up and down, then swinging it sideways, before holding the head back over the back. Bill claps may also occur during head swaying.

Mixed Colony Nesting Partners

Nests are usually built alongside other colonial waterbirds, most often painted storks.

Clutch Characteristics

The typical clutch size is three to four chalky white eggs, which become dirty as they age.

Incubation Period

Eggs hatch after around 30–33 days of incubation.

Fledging Period

Young remain in or near the nest for three to five months.

Captive Breeding Age

In captivity, young spot-billed pelicans can breed after two years.

Thermoregulation Behavior

Like other pelicans, they cool themselves through gular fluttering and panting.

Recorded Parasites

The trematode parasite Renicola pelecani was described from the kidneys of a Sri Lankan spot-billed pelican specimen that died at London Zoo. The ascarid parasite Pelecanascaris deodhari has been described from a specimen collected in Mumbai.