pelican

A pelican, derived from the Greek word pelekys (meaning “axe” and applied to birds that cut wood with their bills or beaks) is a large water bird  with a large throat pouch , belonging to the bird family pelecanidae.

Along with the darters, cormorants,gannets,boobies, frigate birds, and tropic bird, pelicans make up the order Pelecaniformes. Modern pelicans, of which there are eight species, are found on all continents except  Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, though breeding ranges reach 45° south (Australian Pelican, P. conspicillatus) and 60° North (American white Pelican, P. erythrorhynchos, in western Canada).Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands, and inland South America.