Brown Pelican vs Great White Pelican

Pelecanus occidentalis compared with Pelecanus onocrotalus

Key Differences

• Brown Pelican is Least Concern while Great White Pelican is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Pelican	Great White Pelican
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order same	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)
Family same	Pelecanidae	Pelecanidae
Genus same	Pelecanus	Pelecanus
Species	Pelecanus occidentalis	Pelecanus onocrotalus

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Pelican and Great White Pelican share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Pelecanus.

Conservation Status

Brown Pelican

LC — Least Concern

Great White Pelican

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Pelican	Great White Pelican
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	30 years
Average Length	—	1.6 m
Average Weight	—	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Pelican

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, United States, and Venezuela.

Great White Pelican

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (9 countries).

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Great White Pelican

One of the world's largest pelicans, great white pelicans have wingspans reaching 3.6 meters and inhabit shallow lakes and wetlands across Europe, Africa, and Asia. Social birds breeding in large colonies and foraging cooperatively — groups of pelicans corral fish into shallow water before scooping them in their expandable throat pouches. Their pouches can hold up to 13 liters of water. Listed as Least Concern globally with stable populations.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway