Wild Dalmatian pelican spotted in Cornwall!

[kiang]

An adult Dalmatian pelican has been spotted in Cornwall, a first sighting in the UK for "centuries".

Giant pelican spotted in the UK for the first time in centuries | Daily Mail Online

 

[Chlidonias]

there's a better article here, with more information on the individual pelican: Dalmatian Pelican in Cornwall

 

[Zoovolunteer]

I have seen wild Dalmatian Pelican in Bulgaria - they are if anything even more majestic in flight. In the distant past as the press reports mention they bred in the UK on the Somerset Levels and probably eastern England at least, but they were long gone by the Roman period, although apparently Roman authors refer to pelicans in what is now Belgium and northern Germany which are probably this species rather than Great White pelican, the other European species.