# Brown pelican (*Pelecanus occidentalis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-pelican  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird in the family Pelecanidae and the order Pelecaniformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 3.4 kg, from 3.2 to 3.7 kg, and a wingspan of 2.2 m, from 2.03 to 2.28 m. The brown pelican is a carnivorous aquatic predator of marine habitats with an aerial foraging lifestyle, and it is sedentary. It lays 2.6 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 29 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.16 kg – 3.7 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 2.03 m – 2.28 m |
| Lifespan | 31.1 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 43 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 29 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2.4 – 2.6 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Pelecaniformes
- family: Pelecanidae
- genus: Pelecanus
- species: *Pelecanus occidentalis* Linnaeus, 1766

Synonyms: *Pelecanus fuscus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the brown pelican?

The brown pelican is a bird in the family Pelecanidae, order Pelecaniformes.

### How big is the brown pelican?

The brown pelican has an adult body mass of 3.4 kg, from 3.2 to 3.7 kg, and a wingspan of 2.2 m, from 2.03 to 2.28 m.

### What does the brown pelican eat?

The brown pelican is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category.

### Is the brown pelican endangered?

No. The brown pelican is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the brown pelican live?

The brown pelican has a lifespan of 31 years, with values up to 43 years reported.

### How many eggs does the brown pelican lay?

The brown pelican lays 2.6 eggs per clutch and has one clutch per year. Incubation lasts 29 days.

### When does the brown pelican reach sexual maturity?

The brown pelican reaches sexual maturity at 1.5 years, with reported values from 1 to 2 years.

### Who named the brown pelican?

The brown pelican was named Pelecanus occidentalis by Linnaeus, 1766.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-pelican