Pelecaniformes, a debated bird order which is gaining protagonism in this hobby... pelicans, ibises, herons, shoebills...

In recent years, Linnaean taxonomy has faced a decline in prominence and the cladistic method seems to be favored. I like myself the old system because it is still a good way to sort things. So, I think both systems are still useful although in different ways.
The Pelecaniformes order is one of many which has suffered many changes and currently, if Wikipedia is up to date, pelicans, hamerkop and shoebill form one of the clades within the order while herons, ibises and spoonbills form the next closest clade.
It is especially surprising to see the shoebill here because despite reading before it had been moved to this order, I'm still educated to think it is a stork instead. However, it is even closer to pelicans than ibises are.
This is one of the many birds groups I love and I'm not trying to make a list of all species and I'm not even showing all my models, it is just about the favorite ones for each species in my collection.
This is also a small welcoming party for the new Ibis that Papo will launch. The French brand is contributing decisively with fantastic bird models.
I favour figures from major brands. Japanese companies are poorly represented in my collection. However, if you want to discuss your favorites, which ones are part of your collections, feel free to use this space because I enjoy learning from you.

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Figures pictured:
- Safari brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
- Science and Nature Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
Schleich great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Safari American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
- CollectA black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor)
- Papo Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
- Papo grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
- K&M great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
- CollectA shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

As I mentioned, I have more figures of the same species, namely more pelicans, the Bullyland grey heron, Safari TOOB great blue heron, more shoebills. I missed the Safari roseate spoonbill, I confess I'm not a big fan of the water base with no feet but it should be here since it is beautiful and a fantastic species.

Really nice group picture. Many more good figures are also Pelecaniformes. Like the K&M egret, Kaiyodo night heron, Fanta Hamerkop...

Definitely in agreement here Roger, Papo do FANTASTIC birds! :)

WOW, I didn't realize the K&M tube Great Blue Heron was so tall! I might consider that over the recent Safari TOOB figure which is awfully short.

My favorites of the group are Papo's grey heron, Safari's rosette spoonbill, & Safari's brown pelican Papo's ibis will soon join my list of favorites

Great selection of this family of birds!!

Pelicans are in my top 3 favorite animals. Fortunately they are animals with a lot of presence in the market of figures and replicas for decades.... I have hundreds of pelicans but I would not know which are my favorites.... Maybe the one from Sculptures of Dar (Darina) or one of the compo ones.

On the other hand, in my opinion, the major brands have not produced high quality pelicans. It also bothers me that it is common to place a fish in the beak of these birds or place them on a log and reproduce them with open wings. I think it distracts from the essence of the animal.
I also miss that the great white pelicans with their vibrant blue-red-yellow coloration in the beak or in pink coloration have not been reproduced...

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I also love the spoonbills and ibis. And indeed, thanks to Papo we have a cormorant, a beautiful spoonbill and finally a scarlet ibis. As a curiosity, CBG Mignot produced a roseate spoonbill and a scarlet ibis.

Thanks everyone, Andreas, I don't have those.
Ricardo, thanks for your additional information and I agree about the pelican (great white), I am never satisfied with a particular one, mine is almost a random choice.

bmathison1972 wrote:

WOW, I didn't realize the K&M tube Great Blue Heron was so tall! I might consider that over the recent Safari TOOB figure which is awfully short.

They're radically different figures each one with their own virtues.
The K&M model is rubbery with an "outdated" finish but I've never seen before so much love put into a tube figure. It weighs 36 g which is probably the heaviest tube figure in my collection. On the other hand the Safari is such a good looking one and incredibly delicate. Just 4 g of weight and so convincing. Here a comparison picture with the tiny one cheating a little.

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Joliezac wrote:

My favorites of the group are Papo's grey heron, Safari's rosette spoonbill, & Safari's brown pelican Papo's ibis will soon join my list of favorites

If you have time, could you share a photo of your pelecaniformes with the Safari spoonbill? It is an unacceptable absence here.

Well, Roger, I have to admit that this pelican has a lot of merit! And even more so coming from Schleich, whose line is more conservative. When this figure was released, I was left, and never better said, with my mouth open.
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Litterally, I forgot the bad guy! That's a very cool one.
I have this old one too which is the opposite of that model.

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Love the old Schleich white pelican! Still need that one

Roger wrote:

In recent years, Linnaean taxonomy has faced a decline in prominence and the cladistic method seems to be favored. I like myself the old system because it is still a good way to sort things. So, I think both systems are still useful although in different ways.
The Pelecaniformes order is one of many which has suffered many changes and currently, if Wikipedia is up to date, pelicans, hamerkop and shoebill form one of the clades within the order while herons, ibises and spoonbills form the next closest clade.
It is especially surprising to see the shoebill here because despite reading before it had been moved to this order, I'm still educated to think it is a stork instead. However, it is even closer to pelicans than ibises are.
This is one of the many birds groups I love and I'm not trying to make a list of all species and I'm not even showing all my models, it is just about the favorite ones for each species in my collection.
This is also a small welcoming party for the new Ibis that Papo will launch. The French brand is contributing decisively with fantastic bird models.
I favour figures from major brands. Japanese companies are poorly represented in my collection. However, if you want to discuss your favorites, which ones are part of your collections, feel free to use this space because I enjoy learning from you.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Figures pictured:
- Safari brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
- Science and Nature Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
Schleich great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Safari American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
- CollectA black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor)
- Papo Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
- Papo grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
- K&M great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
- CollectA shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

As I mentioned, I have more figures of the same species, namely more pelicans, the Bullyland grey heron, Safari TOOB great blue heron, more shoebills. I missed the Safari roseate spoonbill, I confess I'm not a big fan of the water base with no feet but it should be here since it is beautiful and a fantastic species.

they all look wonderful lined up!

do you have any 1/32nd scale ones Roger? Britains have very beautiful pelicans and flamingos and a stork.

Here is a figure I want to share too. An example of a figure I can't replace even if the newer is superior. The 2003 Bullyland grey heron with the 2021 Papo rendition.

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sunny wrote:

they all look wonderful lined up!

do you have any 1/32nd scale ones Roger? Britains have very beautiful pelicans and flamingos and a stork.

Thanks Annette, I have these Britains in plastic but the stork. I also have the monochromatic dinamização at the same size and a plastic Hausser, I guesss.

Roger wrote:

Here is a figure I want to share too. An example of a figure I can't replace even if the newer is superior. The 2003 Bullyland grey heron with the 2021 Papo rendition.

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sunny wrote:

they all look wonderful lined up!

do you have any 1/32nd scale ones Roger? Britains have very beautiful pelicans and flamingos and a stork.

Thanks Annette, I have these Britains in plastic but the stork. I also have the monochromatic dinamização at the same size and a plastic Hausser, I guesss.

that's good that you have some! if you ever have time for pics of them, then that will be nice:)

by the way - Benno's comment above belongs on this[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

sunny wrote:

do you have any 1/32nd scale ones Roger? Britains have very beautiful pelicans and flamingos and a stork.

Thanks Annette, I have these Britains in plastic but the stork. I also have the monochromatic dinamização at the same size and a plastic Hausser, I guesss. [/quote]

that's good that you have some! if you ever have time for pics of them, then that will be nice:)

by the way - Benno's comment above belongs on this[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  

[/quote]

I opened this thread right before going away for a few weeks, and I won't be able to take photos of these figures anytime soon. Perhaps, when I return in a few weeks, I'll remember to photograph these figures. However, the idea was also for other collectors to contribute with photos of their models, as the cross-perspective of different preferences makes the threads more interesting. The only photo I can share is this old picture of my Britains pelican next to the Dynamization one, which should represent about half of what I have in this scale.

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I will try to move Beno's post to the right topic, thanks for pointing it.

Roger wrote:

sunny wrote:

do you have any 1/32nd scale ones Roger? Britains have very beautiful pelicans and flamingos and a stork.

Thanks Annette, I have these Britains in plastic but the stork. I also have the monochromatic dinamização at the same size and a plastic Hausser, I guesss.

that's good that you have some! if you ever have time for pics of them, then that will be nice:)

by the way - Benno's comment above belongs on this[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  

[/quote]

I opened this thread right before going away for a few weeks, and I won't be able to take photos of these figures anytime soon. Perhaps, when I return in a few weeks, I'll remember to photograph these figures. However, the idea was also for other collectors to contribute with photos of their models, as the cross-perspective of different preferences makes the threads more interesting. The only photo I can share is this old picture of my Britains pelican next to the Dynamization one, which should represent about half of what I have in this scale.

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I will try to move Beno's post to the right topic, thanks for pointing it.[/quote]


ah that is such a beautiful white pelican Roger!! I don't think I have ever seen that model before and I really like pelican models.
Thanks for sharing!
When I manage to see my pelicans again I will add pics here:)

Thanks Annette, I'm looking forward to see yours.