Could it be a Pelican?

I posted a question a few weeks ago on Dwell Magazine's forum asking if anyone knew where I could find more information on the meaning behind the bird in the plaster medallion. An expert in ornamental plaster responded and thought it could be a pelican and if it was it could have this significance:

the use of pelicans in Christian iconography is fairly common as it was thought that a mother pelican would tear the flesh from its own breast to feed its hungry chicks. Symbolic of ultimate sacrifice of god's only son.

In medieval Europe, the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the point of providing her own blood when no other food was available. As a result, the pelican became a symbol of the Passion of Jesus and of the Eucharist. It also became a symbol in bestiaries for self-sacrifice, and was used in heraldry ("a pelican in her piety"). This legend may have arisen because the pelican used to suffer from a disease that left a red mark on its chest.[citation needed]. Another version of this is that the Pelican used to kill its young and then resurrect them with its blood, this being analogous to the sacrifice of Jesus

What do you think? does it look like a pelican? A big thank you to the guy over at Hayles and Howe http://www.haylesandhowe.com/