Pelican lives on every continent except Antarctica and can be found in the history, mythology and legends of most cultures around the world. A common thread in many of the resultant story lines has Pelican feeding his loved ones on his own blood. In Christianity, Pelican is associated with the Eucharist and a number of Christian institutions have adopted Pelican as their symbol. Louisiana adopted Pelican as it's state bird and several of the colleges in that state use him as a symbol. Tulane University's mascot is Pelican.
A wonderful bird is a pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week;
But I'm damned if I see how the helican."The Pelican" (1910) by Dixon Lanier Merritt
(not Ogden Nash)