• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	27,700,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	33300-66700 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2023
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	11.12 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size is estimated at 50,000-100,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2023), which equates to 33,300-66,700 mature individuals. The overall population trend is suspected to be stable over three generations (33.36 years) (Wetlands International 2023).

Trend justification:   .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Congo	extant	native		yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	native	yes
Egypt	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native		yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	native	yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	vagrant			yes
Jordan	extant	vagrant			yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Lebanon	extant	vagrant			yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Madagascar	extinct	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Poland	extant	vagrant			yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native		yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	vagrant
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Guinea-Bissau	Arquipélago dos Bijagós
Guinea-Bissau	Cantanhez forests
Guinea-Bissau	Ilha de Bolama - Rio Grande de Buba
Guinea-Bissau	Rio Tombali, Rio Cumbijã and Ilha de Melo
Kenya	Lake Turkana
Kenya	Tana River Delta
Senegal	Delta du Saloum
Senegal	La Petite Côte
Senegal	Parc National de Basse Casamance
Sierra Leone	Yawri Bay
South Sudan	Sudd (Bahr-el-Jebel system)
Yemen	Bahr Ibn Abbas - Ra's Isa
Yemen	Midi - Al-Luhayyah

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	resident
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	resident
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Back Slope	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Foreslope (Outer Reef Slope)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Rubble Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Soft Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Lagoon	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Outer Reef Channel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 150 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Abstraction of surface water (unknown use)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Large dams	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Pink-backed Pelican Pelecanus rufescens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/pink-backed-pelican-pelecanus-rufescens on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.