Pelecaniformes

• Pelicans
• Herons
• Egrets
• Bitterns
• Ibises
• Spoonbills
• Hammerkops
• Shoebills

In eastern North America, there are 3 families, 12 genera, and 21 species of Pelecaniformes.  Members of this order are medium to large-sized water birds and wading birds.  They eat fish, frogs, small birds, crustaceans, and other small critters, and tend to breed colonially.   Many species are in decline due to wetland loss and degradation, pollution, and overharvesting of prey.  Members of this order were previously classified in Ciconiiformes, and prior members of Pelecaniformes can now be found in Suliformes.

• Pelicans (Family Pelecanidae) are large well-known fish-eaters with very large gular pouches that act as fishing scoops.  They are highly gregarious but generally silent, save for the occasional grunt and hiss on breeding colonies.  Pelicans were greatly impacted by DDT in the 1950’s, and residual effects still occur long after the chemical was banned.

Brown Pelican

• Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns (Family Ardeidae) are long-legged and long-necked water birds that fly with their necks pulled in instead of outstretched.  The bill is generally long and narrow.  Their plumage is varied, and can be black, white, blue, grey, or brown.

Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

• Ibises and Spoonbills (Family Threskiornithidae) are also long-legged, but unlike herons, fly with their neck outstretched.  Ibises have narrow bills that curve down, while spoonbills have large, flat, spoon-like bills

Glossy Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Sources:

1. Alderfer, Jonathan.  2006. Complete Birds of North America, pp. 110-124. National Geographic, Washington, D.C.
2. National Audubon Society. 2000. Field Guide to Birds (Eastern Region), pp. 366-370. Random House, New York.
3. Peterson, Roger Tory.  2010. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America, 6^th Edition, pp. 76-84. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston and New York.