Classic bird paintings
Brown Pelican painting: Audubon's plate and other classic portraits
John James Audubon painted the Brown Pelican as plate 251 of The Birds of America (1827–38): an adult male on a mangrove branch, under the same name. That plate is the painting shown here, and a free high-resolution scan is on Audubon.org. His young Brown Pelican is plate 421.
Updated
Audubon’s plate: plate 251, “Brown Pelican”
Audubon chose this adult male from a great number of birds and set it on a red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, the tree he saw pelicans roost in along the Florida coast. Its pouch, he wrote, was about ten inches deep and could hold a gallon of water.
In Key West harbor, aboard the revenue cutter Marion, he watched gulls land on a pelican's bill or head and snatch the small fish that slipped out as it drained its pouch; the pelicans showed no anger at all. Years later, on the bays of Texas, he found Brown Pelicans nesting on the ground on small islands, not in trees as in Florida, and corrected his earlier claim that the female looks different from the male. His young bird is plate 421.
Story: Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, vols. 3 (1835) and 5 (1839). See plate 251 free at Audubon.org. See plate 421 free at Audubon.org.
More classic portraits, free to see
- John James Audubon, The Birds of America, octavo edition (1840–44), plate 423: “Brown Pelican”. Free scan (New York Public Library Digital Collections)
- John James Audubon, The Birds of America, octavo edition (1840–44), plate 424: “Brown Pelican”. Free scan (New York Public Library Digital Collections)
About the Brown Pelican
- Brown Pelicans dive headfirst into the water, then drain the water from their pouch before swallowing the fish. (Source: National Audubon Society)
- Brown Pelicans recovered after the use of DDT and other long-lasting pesticides ended. (Source: National Audubon Society)
The oldest known wild Brown Pelican lived at least 27 years and 10 months: it was banded in South Carolina in 1972 and found in Florida in 2000. That is a record from bird banding, not a typical lifespan. (Source: USGS Bird Banding Laboratory, 2025 longevity table.) How long do wild birds live?
Buying a print?
An original plate 251 is a hand-colored sheet about 26 by 38 inches, printed in Britain in 1827–38; many prints sold today are reproductions or small 1840s octavo prints. How to tell an original from a reproduction.
In a Birdfolio, the hardcover book of your own life list, this painting sits beside the Brown Pelican with the date and place you first saw one. See your own list as a book, free.