 Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that makes up the family Pelecanidae . They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing . They have predominantly pale plumage , the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans . The bills , pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season . The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution , ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone , though they are absent from interior South America as well as from polar regions and the open ocean . 
