Old World white pelican

7.6

A large white water bird with a long beak that catches fish in Europe, Asia, and Africa, often in groups

noun

: pelícano blanco del Viejo Mundo

The Old World white pelican breeds in shallow lakes and marshes across southern Eurasia and Africa.

Examples

Unlike its American relative, the Old World white pelican often fishes in large groups.
A flock of Old World white pelicans glided gracefully over the African wetlands.
The Old World white pelican is known for its impressive wingspan.
Have you ever seen an Old World white pelican in the wild?
A flock of Old World white pelicans glided gracefully over the African wetlands.
The Old World white pelican breeds in shallow lakes and marshes across southern Eurasia and Africa.
Unlike its American relative, the Old World white pelican often fishes in large groups.

Synonyms

Pelecanus onocrotalus

vsOld World white pelican

Specialized

9.9

A large white water bird with a long bill that lives by lakes in Europe, Asia, and Africa

is the common everyday name used for the same species

Surface Forms

Old World white pelican singular

Old World white pelicans plural

Morphology

old + world + white + pelican

The phrase is fully compositional: 'white pelican' names a pelican that is white, and 'Old World' denotes the Eurasian–African biogeographic region, so the whole phrase refers to the white pelican species found in the Old World. This noun‑modifier pattern is a straightforward, cross‑linguistic way to specify a regional form of a species, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can reasonably infer the meaning.

Etymology

The name Old World white pelican comes from a simple picture. Old World means the lands of Europe, Asia and Africa and white pelican describes a large white bird with a big bill and pouch, so the name shows this white pelican lives in the 'Old World' rather than in the Americas.