---
title: "Brown Pelican"
description: "Pelecanus occidentalis — Uccelli. The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/brown-pelican
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Brown Pelican

> Pelecanus occidentalis — Uccelli. The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water.

- Scientific name: *Pelecanus occidentalis*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 147502
- Wikidata: [Q208714](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q208714)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4328](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4328)

## Names

- en: Brown Pelican
- de: Braunpelikan
- es: Pelícano café
- fr: Pélican brun
- nl: Bruine pelikaan
- pt: Pelicano-pardo
- pl: Pelikan brunatny

## Countries with the most observations

US (98094), MX (24265), EC (5055), CR (2866), PA (1521), PR (1322), CO (1201), BZ (958), CU (606), DO (590), AW (445), HN (429)

## Summary

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_pelican

## Photo

![Brown Pelican](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/brown-pelican/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jesse Rorabaugh · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3068202

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/brown-pelican?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).