The neck is white, often with a yellowish crown. In breeding season, the back of the neck is a rich chestnut brown. The individual in the picture above is an adult in non-breeding plumage. Female pelicans lay two to three eggs and both parents share in incubation and feeding. Of all the pelecaniformes, the pelican has the largest gular sac, from which the juveniles feed.
Pelicans breed throughout the year, but individual colonies tend to breed synchronously.
The best place to see breeding pelicans is Isla Rabida . The brown pelican is an extremely graceful flier, soaring easily on the thermals and, as noted above, it is a plunge diver. As graceful as it is in the air, however, it's plunge is shallow and sloppy, quite unlike that of the booby. They have a monstrous large bill, more than a foot long, with a cot, or bag, growing to the underpart of the bill. The underjaw is divided in such a manner that it can be spread open similar to a net bow, so as to contain near a peck of grain.