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[[Image:Dalmatianpelican.jpg]]

'''Common Name''': Dalmatian Pelican
 
'''Scientific Name:''' Pelecanus crispus

'''Size:''' 67 inches (160-180 cm)

'''Habitat:''' Eastern Europe and east-central Asia; in Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Mongolia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. European breeders winter in the eastern Mediterranean countries, Russian and central Asian breeders in Iran, Iraq and the Indian subcontinent, and Mongolian birds along the east coast of China, including Hong Kong.  Found in inland swamps, shallow lakes, freshwater wetlands but also at coastal lagoons and river deltas.

'''Status:''' Vulnerable. '''Global Population:''' 10,000 - 13,900 mature individuals. Former declines were primarily caused by wetland drainage, shooting and persecution by fishermen. Continuing threats include disturbance from tourists and fishermen, wetland alteration and destruction, water pollution, collision with overhead power-lines and over-exploitation of fish stocks. Hunting by herders (for traditional use of the bill) continues to threaten the Mongolian population. Nest predation by wild boar at times of low water levels is the most important threat to the Bulgarian breeding colony. The Dalmatian Pelican is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

'''Diet:''' Fish and some marine invertebrates. Prey is caught by fishing from the water surface.

'''Nesting:'''  Males have a red lower mandible in the breeding season. Immatures are grey. Nests are a crude heap of vegetation. All Pelicans nest in colonies.

'''Cool Facts:''' They give barking, hissing and grunting calls at colonies which number about 250 pairs.

'''Found in [http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=9052&amp;refid=653438178 Pelicans]'''