Si le pélican captif le plus âgé a atteint 54 ans.
Breeding and lifespan

Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially. Pairs are monogamous for a single season, but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area; mates are independent away from the nest. The ground-nesting (white) species have a complex communal courtship involving a group of males chasing a single female in the air, on land, or in the water while pointing, gaping, and thrusting their bills at each other. They can finish the process in a day. The tree-nesting species have a simpler process in which perched males advertise for females. The location of the breeding colony is constrained by the availability of an ample supply of fish to eat, although pelicans can use thermals to soar and commute for hundreds of kilometres daily to fetch food.

The Australian pelican has two reproductive strategies depending on the local degree of environmental predictability. Colonies of tens or hundreds, rarely thousands, of birds breed regularly on small coastal and subcoastal islands where food is seasonally or permanently available. In arid inland Australia, especially in the endorheic Lake Eyre basin, pelicans breed opportunistically in very large numbers of up to 50,000 pairs, when irregular major floods, which may be many years apart, fill ephemeral salt lakes and provide large amounts of food for several months before drying out again.

In all species, copulation takes place at the nest site; it begins shortly after pairing and continues for 3–10 days before egg-laying. The male brings the nesting material, in ground-nesting species (which may not build a nest) sometimes in the pouch, and in tree-nesting species crosswise in the bill. The female then heaps the material up to form a simple structure.

The eggs are oval, white, and coarsely textured. All species normally lay at least two eggs; the usual clutch size is one to three, rarely up to six. Both sexes incubate with the eggs on top of or below the feet; they may display when changing shifts. Incubation takes 30–36 days; hatching success for undisturbed pairs can be as high as 95%, but because of sibling competition or siblicide, in the wild, usually all but one nestling dies within the first few weeks (later in the pink-backed and spot-billed species). Both parents feed their young. Small chicks are fed by regurgitation; after about a week, they are able to put their heads into their parents' pouches and feed themselves. Sometimes before, but especially after being fed the pelican chick may seem to "throw a tantrum" by loudly vocalizing and dragging itself around in a circle by one wing and leg, striking its head on the ground or anything nearby and the tantrums sometimes end in what looks like a seizure that results in the chick falling briefly unconscious; the reason is not clearly known, but a common belief is that it is to draw attention to itself and away from any siblings who are waiting to be fed.

Parents of ground-nesting species sometimes drag older young around roughly by the head before feeding them. From about 25 days old, the young of these species gather in "pods" or " crèches " of up to 100 birds in which parents recognise and feed only their own offspring. By 6–8 weeks they wander around, occasionally swimming, and may practise communal feeding. Young of all species fledge 10–12 weeks after hatching. They may remain with their parents afterwards, but are now seldom or never fed. They are mature at three or four years old. Overall breeding success is highly variable. Pelicans live for 15 to 25 years in the wild, although one reached an age of 54 years in captivity.
Description

Les pélicans sont des oiseaux très grands, dotés de becs très longs caractérisés par un crochet incurvé à l'extrémité de la mandibule supérieure et l'attachement d'une énorme poche gulaire à la mandibule inférieure. Les ramus minces de la mandibule inférieure et les muscles de la langue flexibles forment la poche en un panier pour attraper les poissons, et parfois l'eau de pluie, bien que pour ne pas gêner l'ingestion de gros poissons, la langue elle-même est minuscule. Ils ont un long cou et des pattes courtes et robustes avec de grands pieds entièrement palmés. Bien qu'ils soient parmi les oiseaux volants les plus lourds, ils sont relativement légers compte tenu de leur volume apparent en raison de poches d'air dans le squelette et sous la peau, ce qui leur permet de flotter haut dans l'eau. La queue est courte et carrée. Les ailes sont longues et larges, de forme appropriée pour le vol plané et à voile, et possèdent un nombre inhabituellement élevé de 30 à 35 plumes secondaires.

Les mâles sont généralement plus grands que les femelles et ont des becs plus longs. La plus petite espèce est le pélican brun, dont les individus les plus petits ne pèsent pas plus de 2,75 kg (6,1 lb) et mesurent 1,06 m (3,5 pieds) de long, avec une envergure pouvant être aussi faible que 1,83 m (6,0 pieds). Le plus grand est considéré comme étant le pélican dalmate, pouvant atteindre 15 kg (33 lb) et 1,83 m (6,0 pieds) de long, avec une envergure maximale de 3 m (9,8 pieds). Le bec du pélican australien peut atteindre une longueur de 0,5 m (1,6 pieds) chez les grands mâles, le plus long de tous les oiseaux.

Les pélicans ont principalement un plumage clair, à l'exception des pélicans bruns et péruviens. Les becs, les poches et la peau faciale nue de toutes les espèces deviennent plus vifs avant le début de la saison de reproduction. La poche gulaire de la sous-espèce californienne du pélican brun devient rouge vif, puis passe au jaune après la ponte des œufs, tandis que la poche gulaire du pélican péruvien devient bleue. Le pélican blanc américain développe une protubérance proéminente sur son bec qui est perdue une fois que les femelles ont pondu des œufs. Le plumage des jeunes pélicans est plus foncé que celui des adultes. Les poussins nouvellement éclos sont nus et roses, puis s'assombrissent en gris ou noir après 4 à 14 jours, puis développent un duvet blanc ou gris.
### Query ###
Si le pélican captif le plus âgé a atteint 54 ans.

### Main Text ###
Breeding and lifespan

Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially. Pairs are monogamous for a single season, but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area; mates are independent away from the nest. The ground-nesting (white) species have a complex communal courtship involving a group of males chasing a single female in the air, on land, or in the water while pointing, gaping, and thrusting their bills at each other. They can finish the process in a day. The tree-nesting species have a simpler process in which perched males advertise for females. The location of the breeding colony is constrained by the availability of an ample supply of fish to eat, although pelicans can use thermals to soar and commute for hundreds of kilometres daily to fetch food.

The Australian pelican has two reproductive strategies depending on the local degree of environmental predictability. Colonies of tens or hundreds, rarely thousands, of birds breed regularly on small coastal and subcoastal islands where food is seasonally or permanently available. In arid inland Australia, especially in the endorheic Lake Eyre basin, pelicans breed opportunistically in very large numbers of up to 50,000 pairs, when irregular major floods, which may be many years apart, fill ephemeral salt lakes and provide large amounts of food for several months before drying out again.

In all species, copulation takes place at the nest site; it begins shortly after pairing and continues for 3–10 days before egg-laying. The male brings the nesting material, in ground-nesting species (which may not build a nest) sometimes in the pouch, and in tree-nesting species crosswise in the bill. The female then heaps the material up to form a simple structure.

The eggs are oval, white, and coarsely textured. All species normally lay at least two eggs; the usual clutch size is one to three, rarely up to six. Both sexes incubate with the eggs on top of or below the feet; they may display when changing shifts. Incubation takes 30–36 days; hatching success for undisturbed pairs can be as high as 95%, but because of sibling competition or siblicide, in the wild, usually all but one nestling dies within the first few weeks (later in the pink-backed and spot-billed species). Both parents feed their young. Small chicks are fed by regurgitation; after about a week, they are able to put their heads into their parents' pouches and feed themselves. Sometimes before, but especially after being fed the pelican chick may seem to "throw a tantrum" by loudly vocalizing and dragging itself around in a circle by one wing and leg, striking its head on the ground or anything nearby and the tantrums sometimes end in what looks like a seizure that results in the chick falling briefly unconscious; the reason is not clearly known, but a common belief is that it is to draw attention to itself and away from any siblings who are waiting to be fed.

Parents of ground-nesting species sometimes drag older young around roughly by the head before feeding them. From about 25 days old, the young of these species gather in "pods" or " crèches " of up to 100 birds in which parents recognise and feed only their own offspring. By 6–8 weeks they wander around, occasionally swimming, and may practise communal feeding. Young of all species fledge 10–12 weeks after hatching. They may remain with their parents afterwards, but are now seldom or never fed. They are mature at three or four years old. Overall breeding success is highly variable. Pelicans live for 15 to 25 years in the wild, although one reached an age of 54 years in captivity.

### Supplementary Text ###
Description

Les pélicans sont des oiseaux très grands, dotés de becs très longs caractérisés par un crochet incurvé à l'extrémité de la mandibule supérieure et l'attachement d'une énorme poche gulaire à la mandibule inférieure. Les ramus minces de la mandibule inférieure et les muscles de la langue flexibles forment la poche en un panier pour attraper les poissons, et parfois l'eau de pluie, bien que pour ne pas gêner l'ingestion de gros poissons, la langue elle-même est minuscule. Ils ont un long cou et des pattes courtes et robustes avec de grands pieds entièrement palmés. Bien qu'ils soient parmi les oiseaux volants les plus lourds, ils sont relativement légers compte tenu de leur volume apparent en raison de poches d'air dans le squelette et sous la peau, ce qui leur permet de flotter haut dans l'eau. La queue est courte et carrée. Les ailes sont longues et larges, de forme appropriée pour le vol plané et à voile, et possèdent un nombre inhabituellement élevé de 30 à 35 plumes secondaires.

Les mâles sont généralement plus grands que les femelles et ont des becs plus longs. La plus petite espèce est le pélican brun, dont les individus les plus petits ne pèsent pas plus de 2,75 kg (6,1 lb) et mesurent 1,06 m (3,5 pieds) de long, avec une envergure pouvant être aussi faible que 1,83 m (6,0 pieds). Le plus grand est considéré comme étant le pélican dalmate, pouvant atteindre 15 kg (33 lb) et 1,83 m (6,0 pieds) de long, avec une envergure maximale de 3 m (9,8 pieds). Le bec du pélican australien peut atteindre une longueur de 0,5 m (1,6 pieds) chez les grands mâles, le plus long de tous les oiseaux.

Les pélicans ont principalement un plumage clair, à l'exception des pélicans bruns et péruviens. Les becs, les poches et la peau faciale nue de toutes les espèces deviennent plus vifs avant le début de la saison de reproduction. La poche gulaire de la sous-espèce californienne du pélican brun devient rouge vif, puis passe au jaune après la ponte des œufs, tandis que la poche gulaire du pélican péruvien devient bleue. Le pélican blanc américain développe une protubérance proéminente sur son bec qui est perdue une fois que les femelles ont pondu des œufs. Le plumage des jeunes pélicans est plus foncé que celui des adultes. Les poussins nouvellement éclos sont nus et roses, puis s'assombrissent en gris ou noir après 4 à 14 jours, puis développent un duvet blanc ou gris.

### Draft ###

### 1. Query Parsing

"Si le pélican captif le plus âgé a atteint 54 ans."

→ "If the oldest captive pelican reached 54 years."

Simple factual verification. French "le plus âgé" = superlative construction. Need maximum recorded lifespan for *any* pelican species in captivity.

Key constraint: "captif" = captive vs wild populations. Different longevity expectations.

### 2. Species Identification Challenge

? Which pelican species? 

Eight extant species worldwide. Most common in captivity:
- White pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)  
- American white pelican (P. erythrorhynchos)
- Brown pelican (P. occidentalis)

※ Need to verify if 54y record spans all species or single species.

### 3. Lifespan Context Retrieval

⟨H≈0.3⟩ Pelicans generally... long-lived waterbirds. Related to cormorants, herons. Large body mass → slower metabolism → longer lifespan? Fish diet → protein rich → good health parameters. Captive conditions remove predation, food scarcity, migration stress...

Wild pelican lifespans: ◐ ~15-25 years typical
Captive potential: ? extended by 2-3x vs wild?

### 4. Record Verification

54 years = exceptional longevity claim.

Checking against known avian records:
- Cockatoo: ~80 years
- Macaw: ~70 years  
- Large raptors: ~40-50 years
- Domestic pigeons: ~40 years

∴ 54y plausible for large, long-lived species.

### 5. Source Triangulation

⚠ No direct access to ornithological databases.

Potential sources:
- Zoo records (American/European zoos likely)
- Wildlife park documentation  
- Guinness World Records
- Species-specific longevity studies

Confidence assessment: ◐ Partial - plausible but unverified

### 6. Species-Specific Analysis

Brown pelican: ○ Less common in captivity, shorter average lifespan
White pelican: ◐ More documented, 15-25y wild, ?captive potential
American white: ◐ Regional subspecies, similar to white

? Most likely candidate: American white pelican given documentation availability.

### 7. Physical Constraints Check

54y for 4-6kg bird = extreme longevity
But: large body → lower metabolic rate
Captive care → reduced stress/predation
Fish diet → nutritional security

✓ Biologically plausible within avian parameters.

### 8. Answer Synthesis

● High confidence the record exists (plausible)
◐ Medium confidence 54y is exact figure  
○ Low confidence which species/institution

Final assessment: Record likely accurate within rounding/reporting tolerances.

### 9. Response Construction

Structure:
1. Affirm record existence
2. Provide lifespan context (wild vs captive)
3. Note species uncertainty
4. Acknowledge exceptional nature of achievement

NB: Avoid false precision - "approximately 54 years" more defensible than exact figure.

### 10. Draft Answer

⟨H≈0.2⟩ Yes, the record exists. Captive pelicans can exceed 50 years. Wild populations average 15-25 years. Large birds in controlled environments often live longer. American white pelicans most commonly documented. Some individuals reach 54 years or more in captivity. Exceptional longevity for large waterbirds.

∴ Confirmed: 54-year-old captive pelican documented. Species details incomplete but record stands.

### Answer###
Oui, le record de longévité pour un pélican captif a effectivement été établi à 54 ans. En captivité, les pélicans peuvent vivre jusqu'à 54 années, ce qui représente une durée exceptionnelle comparée à leur espérance de vie en liberté, qui s'étend généralement de 15 à 25 années dans la nature. Cette longévité remarquable illustre les conditions favorables que peuvent offrir les établissements zoologiques à ces grands oiseaux.