Blackbrook Zoo (Closed) Pelican species??
- Thread starter Writhedhornbill
- Start date
looks like a young spot-billed pelican to me
bloodycurtus
Well-Known Member
i think they are meant to be dalmations in that pen
It is a youngish Dalmatian Pelican Pelicanus crispus. It is the frizzled tufts on the head and neck and the darkish brown wings and whitish underbelly that give it away.
The Spot-billed Pelican - as Chlidonias suggested - is distinguished by a more darkish tufted frizzle on the head with white wings and black/dark along the edges and wing tips.
Incidentally, Blackbrook maintains only Dalmatian Pelicans (1.1.1). Other species in the collection are American white P. erythrorhynchos (1.0), American Brown P. occidentalis (0.0.13), Eastern white P. onocrotalus (5.3) and Pink-Backed P. rufescens (0.0.5).
Why they keep only small numbers of each is beyond me. Only the American Brown are in viable numbers for breeding, even the Eastern whites are to few in number (you require at least 5-6 individual pairs to have any hope for future natural breeding/hatching/rearing.
The Spot-billed Pelican - as Chlidonias suggested - is distinguished by a more darkish tufted frizzle on the head with white wings and black/dark along the edges and wing tips.
Incidentally, Blackbrook maintains only Dalmatian Pelicans (1.1.1). Other species in the collection are American white P. erythrorhynchos (1.0), American Brown P. occidentalis (0.0.13), Eastern white P. onocrotalus (5.3) and Pink-Backed P. rufescens (0.0.5).
Why they keep only small numbers of each is beyond me. Only the American Brown are in viable numbers for breeding, even the Eastern whites are to few in number (you require at least 5-6 individual pairs to have any hope for future natural breeding/hatching/rearing.
I agree with Jelle it is a Dalmatian pelican on the picture.
But I do not agree it is necessary to have 5+ pairs for breeding. The Eastern Whites 4,3 in Prague bred naturaly this year 1 chick. And the Spot-billed 3,2 in Dvur Kralove bred this year 4 chicks (handreared).
I will check my PC - I think I have somewhere pics of unmature Spot-billed pelicans and I will load them to compare.
EDIT: pic
But I do not agree it is necessary to have 5+ pairs for breeding. The Eastern Whites 4,3 in Prague bred naturaly this year 1 chick. And the Spot-billed 3,2 in Dvur Kralove bred this year 4 chicks (handreared).
I will check my PC - I think I have somewhere pics of unmature Spot-billed pelicans and I will load them to compare.
EDIT: pic
Last edited:
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
Blackbrook have at least 7 Dalmatian pelicans, some of them are new to the collection though..
Hi Jana,
I am not sure whether the Praha and Dvur zoos have a knack for pelican breeding in small groupings. Perhaps, there is more to it than the general rule???
I was merely stating that as colonial birds breeding success is only assured continuously in large group settings where individual birds can choose their own partner. They also need warmer springtime and seclusion to increase rearing success (for this reason some zoos let the brooder do the hatching).
I guess the Dvur case is down to the fact that they have a very apt bird curator, that the exhibit is in a quieter corner of the zoo and that all their pelicans - so in mixed species exhibits - are held together as a group. That may set off the birds to breed as well.
Praha I can not recall the pelican setting that well - I suppose they were in the lower zoo part that I had trouble venturing through on my visit in 2007!!?
Hi Jelle,
I just wanted to point out in my last post, that animals do not always behave according to general rules we think they follow. I used the two cases as examples of exception, and I looked at my local zoos because I know almost nothing about the foreign ones.
I fully agree it is the only right way to keep colonial birds in large groups, not only to achieve sustaining breeding record, but also to preserve their "metal well-beeing".
Back to the two small groups:
The Eastern Whites (Praha) live in one of the new crane pens in the lower part, mixed with blue cranes, and their breeding results can not be called great with just 2 chicks in last 5 years.
The Spot-billed ones (DK) spend the winter time in non-visible wintering ground so I do not know if they are mixed with other pelicans or not while nesting.
I wish you could post an essey on pelican keeping/breeding in zoos you have talked about in some older thread here.
I just wanted to point out in my last post, that animals do not always behave according to general rules we think they follow. I used the two cases as examples of exception, and I looked at my local zoos because I know almost nothing about the foreign ones.
I fully agree it is the only right way to keep colonial birds in large groups, not only to achieve sustaining breeding record, but also to preserve their "metal well-beeing".
Back to the two small groups:
The Eastern Whites (Praha) live in one of the new crane pens in the lower part, mixed with blue cranes, and their breeding results can not be called great with just 2 chicks in last 5 years.
The Spot-billed ones (DK) spend the winter time in non-visible wintering ground so I do not know if they are mixed with other pelicans or not while nesting.
I wish you could post an essey on pelican keeping/breeding in zoos you have talked about in some older thread here.