Pygargue à tête blanche vs pélican blanc

Haliaeetus leucocephalus compared with Pelecanus onocrotalus

Key Differences

• pélican blanc is 2.0x heavier than Pygargue à tête blanche.
• pélican blanc lives longer (30 years vs 28 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Pygargue à tête blanche	pélican blanc
Kingdom same	Animalia (animal)	Animalia (animal)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (oiseau)	Aves (oiseau)
Order	Accipitriformes (Hawks & Eagles)	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)
Family	Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles)	Pelecanidae
Genus	Haliaeetus (Sea Eagles)	Pelecanus
Species	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Pelecanus onocrotalus

Evolutionary Relationship

Pygargue à tête blanche and pélican blanc share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (oiseau)

Conservation Status

Pygargue à tête blanche

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~316.7K

Trend: Increasing ↑

pélican blanc

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Pygargue à tête blanche	pélican blanc
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	28 years	30 years
Average Length	90 cm	1.6 m
Average Weight	5.0 kg	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Pygargue à tête blanche

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 10 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (8 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Ecuador).

pélican blanc

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (9 countries).

Pygargue à tête blanche

The national bird of the United States and a symbol of American conservation success, bald eagles have a wingspan of up to 2.4 meters and inhabit forests and wetlands near open water across North America. Powerful aerial predators and scavengers, they specialize in fish but also take waterfowl and carrion. Nearly extinct by the 1960s due to DDT poisoning and hunting, the bald eagle recovered dramatically following pesticide bans and the Endangered Species Act.

pélican blanc

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 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom