BirdBrain Academy

Pelicans · Pelecanidae

American White Pelican sounds

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

The American White Pelican is a large aquatic soaring bird that breeds inland in North America and winters southward to the coasts.

Learn bird sounds freeMore American White Pelican recordings
American White Pelican
Photo: Manjith Kainickara, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Listen to the American White Pelican

Each recording below is a short excerpt with its spectrogram, a picture of the sound. Time runs left to right and higher pitches sit higher up. Play each one, then look for the same shape in the next. Different recordings of the same bird help you learn the bird, not one clip.

Call, Wing Noise · recording 1 Spectrogram of a American White Pelican call, wing noise: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Grey Cloud Dunes SNA, Washington, Minnesota, 2014-04-18. XC175257 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call, Wing Noise · recording 2 Spectrogram of a American White Pelican call, wing noise: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Grey Cloud Dunes SNA, Washington, Minnesota, 2014-04-18. XC175257 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call, Wing Noise · recording 3 Spectrogram of a American White Pelican call, wing noise: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Grey Cloud Dunes SNA, Washington, Minnesota, 2014-04-18. XC175257 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

What to listen for

What it looks like

The American White Pelican is very large and plump, with an immense beak, broad wings, and almost entirely bright white plumage. Black primary and secondary flight feathers show mainly in flight, and breeding adults have vivid orange bare parts and a temporary horn on the upper bill.

Where to find it

It nests colonially on islands in remote brackish and freshwater lakes of inland North America, then winters along Pacific and Gulf coasts, estuaries, bays, lakes, and the Mississippi River. It catches prey while swimming, often feeding cooperatively in groups that corral fish.

BirdBrain regions that include this bird

  • Alaska
  • California
  • Eastern Canada
  • Florida
  • Great Lakes
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • New England
  • Northwest
  • Plains
  • Rocky Mountains
  • Southeast
  • Southwest
  • Texas
  • Western Canada

Did you know?

  • It is the only one of the eight pelican species to grow a bill horn.
  • Groups of a dozen or more may cooperate to corral fish while feeding.
  • Wild American White Pelicans may live more than 16 years.

Learn the American White Pelican by ear

BirdBrain Academy teaches bird sounds with side-by-side listening and quizzes that use different recordings, so you learn the bird rather than one clip. Start with six free lessons, no signup needed. On your phone, Sound ID can name the birds singing around you.

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Related birds

Species notes are adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and checked for BirdBrain. Recordings come from xeno-canto under the licenses shown with each one. Photo: Manjith Kainickara, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Identification guidance is educational; birds vary, so confirm unusual sightings with local experts or eBird.