ONE of Australia's most loved feathered film stars has died.

Mr Percival - one of the pelicans to star in the 1976 South Australian film Storm Boy - died at Adelaide Zoo last night.

It is understood Mr Percival, who was 33 years old, died of old age.

The film, in which Mr Percival starred, was shot on the Coorong and was based on Colin Thiele's novel about a boy who raises three pelicans but is forced by his father to set them free.

Adelaide Zoo senior keeper of birds, Brett Backhouse said Mr Percival had been a favourite with zoo staff since arriving from the former Marineland in 1988.

"He was our number one breeder, leaving behind the seven offspring he sired with partner Alto," Mr Backhouse said in a statement released today.

"Their last pelican chick was born in 2007."



Originally published as Storm Boy pelican dies at 33