Pelican in the context of "Wader (American)"

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray.

The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats amphibians, crustaceans, and the eggs and nestlings of birds. It nests in colonies in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and mangroves. Females lay two or three oval, chalky white eggs. Incubation takes 28 to 30 days with both sexes sharing duties. The newly hatched chicks are pink, turning gray or black within 4 to 14 days. About 63 days are needed for chicks to fledge. Six to 9 weeks after hatching, the juveniles leave the nest, and gather into small groups known as pods.

A bestiary (Latin: bestiarium vocabulum) is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson. This reflected the belief that the world itself was the Word of God and that every living thing had its own special meaning. For example, the pelican, which was believed to tear open its breast to bring its young to life with its own blood, was a living representation of Jesus. Thus the bestiary is also a reference to the symbolic language of animals in Western Christian art and literature.

The Orebites (Czech: Orebité), also called Lesser Taborites and later known as Sirotci ("Orphans"; German: Waisen), officially Orphans' Union (Czech: Sirotčí svaz), were followers of a radical wing of the Hussites in Bohemia. The founders took part in the procession on Mount Oreb, near Třebechovice pod Orebem and Hradec. Founded in 1423 originally under the name Lesser Tábor, it consisted mostly of poorer burghers and some members of the Czech nobility who joined with the commander Jan Žižka.

The ideological founder of the Orebites was the priest Ambrož Hradecký. Leaders included Hynek Krušina of Lichtenburg and Diviš Bořek of Miletínek, the captain of the Hussites in Eastern and Central Bohemia. The Orebites were instrumental in the burning of the Benedictine monastery in Mnichovo Hradiště in the early summer of 1420, and in autumn, they supported the rest of the Hussites at the Battle of Vyšehrad.