Pelicans have long beaks with a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They generally have pale plumages, the exceptions being 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. They have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.