Males are larger than females and have a longer bill. In Florida, pelicans build their nests in mangrove trees out of twigs and grasses brought by the male to the female for her to construct. Wild pelicans are polygamous but captive pelicans are 50 percent monogamous. The female lays 2 to 4 eggs in the late winter or early spring and after about 30 days of incubation by both the male and the female, the chick hatches. Young chicks are fed regurgitated fish and the older chicks feed from the parents' pouch.
Young pelicans learn to feed themselves by copying adults in the wild.
Some of the behavior may be instinctive. Immature pelicans are brown with a white belly and mature pelicans have a blackish belly with a silverish back. Adults have a white head and reddish brown neck during the summer and a yellow head and white neck during the winter. This colorful plumage helps in attracting a mate during mating season. A yellow head is mating plumage.