pelican
pelican, common name for a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. Pelicans are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. They are graceful swimmers and fliers, often seen flying in long lines or circling at great heights. Fish are stored in a deep, expansible pouch below the lower mandible; the young feed from the pouch and throat. The white pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus, of North America ranges from the NW United States to the Gulf and Florida coasts. It is about 5 ft (152.5 cm) long with a wingspread of 8 to 10 ft (244–300.5 cm). Both sexes have white plumage with black primary wing feathers. The white pelican scoops fish into its pouch as it swims; the smaller brown pelican, P. occidentalis, dives from the air for its prey. The eastern brown pelican of the SE United States and tropical America and the California brown pelican are strictly ocean birds. The spectacled pelican is found in Australia and New Guinea. There are several Old World species. Pelicans are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Pelecaniformes, family Pelecanidae.
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pelican
Recorded from late Old English, the word comes via late Latin from Greek pelekan, probably based on pelekus ‘axe’, with reference to its bill.
pelican crossing in the UK, a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians. The name comes (in the 1960s) from pe(destrian) li(ght) con(trolled), altered to conform with the bird's name.
Pelican flag the state flag of Louisiana, which depicts a pelican.
pelican in her piety in heraldry and Christian iconography, the depiction of a pelican pecking its own breast in order to feed her young, as a symbol of Christ.
Pelican State an informal name for Louisiana.
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pelican
pel·i·can / ˈpelikən/ • n. a large gregarious waterbird (genus Pelecanus, family Pelecanidae) with a long bill, an extensible throat pouch for scooping up fish, and mainly white or gray plumage. Its six species include the white pelican (P. erythrorhynchos) of western and central North America, and the brown pelican (P. occidentalis) of northern and western South America and the southern US. ∎ a heraldic or artistic representation of a pelican, typically depicted pecking its own breast as a symbol of Christ.
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Pelican
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