The great white pelican is the most common in Africa, and is very heavy for a flying bird (reaching weights up to 15kg). With a wingspan of 3.5m, great white pelicans are suited to long-distance gliding once they've attained sufficient altitude.
They often fly long distances (e.g. 200km) to their feeding grounds. Pelicans are gregarious and often group in a horseshoe formation to chase fish into the shallow waters, where they are easily caught (co-operative predation is unusual amongst birds).
The South African Red Data Book for Birds lists White Pelicans as being
"rare". with approximately 2500 breeding pairs (Brooke 1984,
Williams
and Borello 1997). They breed in colonies, and require areas that
are safe from mammalian predators (e.g. islands on lakes or offshore
islands). There are only two areas in South Africa where the
white pelicans breed - Dassen Island & St Lucia. White
pelicans have bred on Dassen Island since 1956. The breeding
females lay 2 eggs in a rudimentary nest on the ground, composed of
debris.
When the chicks hatch, the stronger one kills its sibling (known as
Cainism by ornithologists, after the Old Testament event). When
old enough, the pelican chicks move into a crèche (guarded by
several adult pelicans). Chicks regognise and sprint up to their
returning parents, and insert their heads into their parent's pouch to
eat the regurgitated food.