American Bald Eagle vs Great White Pelican

Haliaeetus leucocephalus compared with Pelecanus onocrotalus

Key Differences

• Great White Pelican is 2.0x heavier than American Bald Eagle.
• Great White Pelican lives longer (30 years vs 28 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	American Bald Eagle	Great White Pelican
Kingdom same	Animalia (hayvan)	Animalia (hayvan)
Phylum same	Chordata (Kordalılar)	Chordata (Kordalılar)
Class same	Aves (kuş)	Aves (kuş)
Order	Accipitriformes (Hawks & Eagles)	Pelecaniformes (Pelikanlar)
Family	Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles)	Pelecanidae
Genus	Haliaeetus (Sea Eagles)	Pelecanus
Species	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Pelecanus onocrotalus

Evolutionary Relationship

American Bald Eagle and Great White Pelican share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (kuş)

Conservation Status

American Bald Eagle

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~316.7K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Great White Pelican

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	American Bald Eagle	Great White Pelican
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

American Bald Eagle

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).

Great White Pelican

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (9 countries).

American Bald Eagle

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.

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 7 countries:

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