Bird of the Week – Pinkbacked pelican

THIS regular visitor to Toti lagoon and river up to Hutchison Park is smaller than the white pelican, and it has a pink tinge along its back.

The pinkbacked pelican is an uncommon resident from the South Coast northwards to Zululand and Mozambique.

It is usually silent and only produces some guttural notes when breeding.

It feeds on fish up to 400 grams, especially tilapi or bream. It usually lays three eggs, of which only one survives after hatching as the older hatchlings kill the young.

This pelican’s nest is a platform of sticks about 50cm to 60cm in diameter, in dense colonies in tall trees.