The Dalmatian pelican (lat. Pelecanus crispus) is a waterfowl, one of the largest bird species in the world, reaching a height of 1.20 meters, with a wingspan of up to 3.20 meters and a weight of 6 to 10 kg. It is an elegant soaring bird with grey plumage, a characteristic beak with an expanding yellow pouch at the bottom, and its fingers webbed together. Flocks of dalmatian pelicans fly in graceful synchrony.
The Dalmatian pelican was once a species with a wide distribution throughout Eurasia. Nowadays, its populations are constantly declining and they occur only in certain wetlands in the Balkans. The dalmatian pelican is considered one of the rarest bird species; therefore, it is protected by international treaties as well as by Greek legislation: hunting of dalmatian pelicans and disturbing them in their breeding grounds is strictly forbidden. The 2022 bird flu epidemic had an unprecedented impact on Europe's wild birds causing the mass extinction of silver pelicans across a large part of their geographical range in southeastern Europe.
Hellenic Ornithological Society
Birds of Greece / Ornithofiloi (video)
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