White pelicans Pelecanus onocrotalus breeding on the Etosha Pan, South West Africa, during 1971

White Pelicans Pelecanus onocrotalus were recorded breeding on the Etosha Pan for the first time in 1971. The breeding colony of c. 3000 pairs was situated on flat, dry ground. The nearest water for fishing was 100 km distant, at Lake Oponono, and the pelicans used lifting air themals to glide there and back. Disturbances elsewhere caused the pclicans to abandon two earlier nesting attempts and were probably the reason why they chose the isolation of the Etosha Pan.