Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all pelicans become brightly coloured before the breeding season.
Pelican
Pelicans at National Zoo, Bangladesh
Hamerkop
Shoebill
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term water bird is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine environments. Some water birds are more terrestrial while others are more aquatic, and their adaptations will vary depending on their environment. These adaptations include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water, and the ability to dive from the surface or the air to catch prey in water.
Geese and ducks are just two types of water birds, which include seabirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and numerous other forms of birds.
A yellow-billed loon, a diving bird in the order Gaviiformes, swimming on a lake in the northern area of Alaska, United States
The Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) has an enlarged throat pouch to aid it in feeding on schools of small fish. It is a member of the order Pelecaniformes, which also contains the herons, bitterns, and ibises
Pacific black ducks, one of the dabbling ducks, feeding in a wetland