Chicks with nice hairdo: Dalmatian pelicans born in Moscow Zoo

Rare Dalmatian pelicans hatched in the Moscow Zoo. Two couples of birds got offspring, hatching one chick each. Dalmatian pelicans are on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened. It is the rarest of all pelican species. In the wild, their number has been steadily decreasing.

The newborn chicks do not look like their parents so far, as they are several times smaller than adults, with their bodies covered with greyish brown down. The chicks will get white plumage only when they are one year old, after several moults. By the time, they will have curly feathers on their heads.

'Hatching of Dalmatian pelican chicks is a long-awaited event for our Zoo. Now we can boast twelve individuals of this rare species of birds. To save pelicans from extinction, there is a European Studbook that has been kept for this species for many years. The Moscow Zoo takes an active part in its replenishment. Thanks to hard work of our ornithologists, we regularly get healthy young of Dalmatian pelicans. We transfer grown-up individuals to the best Russian and foreign zoos,' said Svetlana Akulova, Director General of the Moscow Zoo.

According to Svetlana, the small pelicans are already exploring the world around them, now and again endeavouring to escape from their nest. As soon as parents leave their restless chicks for a while, they rush in search of adventures. Still fed by their parents, chicks are already trying to swallow small fish, such as Baltic herring. Now the younger generation of Dalmatian pelicans inhabits the heated Birds and Butterflies Pavilion along with their parents. In spring, chicks and adults will move to the open-air Swamp enclosure, a pond in the new part of the Zoo. Here they will learn to swim and fish.

Dalmatian pelicans are excellent fishers both in shallow and deep waters. They prefer carps, breams, perches, roaches and herrings.

In addition to long curly feathers on the head, Dalmatian pelicans stand out by their bills reaching 75 cm, longer than those of other species. They have a bright yellow and orange pouch under the bill. Pelicans use it as a fishing net holding over 4 kg of food at a time. Dalmatian pelicans are one of the largest migratory birds. Adults weigh some 15 kg. They are 150-170 cm long, with a wingspan reaching 3m and more.

Dalmatian pelicans inhabit river deltas abundant in aquatic vegetation and fish, fresh and overgrown brackish lakes, and islands of salt lakes without surface vegetation. In Russia, these birds have been spotted only in a few regions — in the delta of Kuban, Volga, Terek rivers and in the lakes of the Tobol-Ishim interfluve. Dalmatian pelicans overwinter in warm countries — Iran, Pakistan, India, and in the southern part of China. Also, the rare birds inhabit the reservoirs of Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan. They nest in small colonies, often in a company of great white pelicans.

In the wild, the number of Dalmatian pelicans has been decreasing due to river pollution and drainage, and illegal hunting. According to zoologists, there are about 12,000 Dalmatian pelican individuals in the world.

Last year, over 1,000 young were born in the Moscow Zoo. These include African ground hornbills, common trumpeters, Humboldt penguins, Kirk's dik-diks, Eurasian lynx, East Caucasian turs, crocodile newts, and other animals. Sumatran orangutans, bharals, Mexican beaded lizards, fur seals, and lion-tailed macaques had their young, too.