First pelicans in 360 years hatch in St James’s Park London | Birds
Shortly before the Great Fire of London, the Russian ambassador visited King George II. They arrived at the royal park, where she presented Charles with a pair.
But although pelicans have lived in St James’s Park since 1664, no one has ever learned the art of courtship; until chicks were born for the first time in more than 360 years.
The first of four chicks hatched on May 17 and, to the delight of Royal Parks director Mark Wasilewski, they all survived their first month. “This is really a first for us,” he said. “We were surprised.”
Six adult great white pelicans live in the park: two males named Sun and Moon and four females named Star, Isla, Tiffany and Gargi.
“Pelicans normally breed only in large groups of 10, 12 or more individuals,” Wasilewski said. “We’ve always had between two and six – never a big number – and as the pelicans died, we decided it was time to bring some more… just to keep that tradition going, we think it’s a really important tradition for St James’s Park.”
Five eggs were laid in three nests, and eight-year-old Star and 30-year-old “old female pelican” Gargi are sitting in the same nest. “One of the two men must have impregnated one of them, but unfortunately we don’t know which of the two actually ovulated,” he said. “And we don’t know which father is playing the game.”
Gargi has been a permanent resident of St James’s Park since he was found in a garden in Southend in 1996, but has occasionally been seen flying to the London zoo in Regent’s Park to steal fish.
Wasilewski is working with Blackpool zoo, the Royal Veterinary College, ZSL and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust to provide specialist care for the chicks, and said they had a fierce appetite – “which is good news” – and were “very ugly”. “Someone said they looked a bit like dinosaurs. They’re all black, hairless, and they already have little pointy beaks.”
They’re starting to grow “beautiful fluffy chestnut-brown feathers,” but won’t start moulting until they’re eight or nine weeks old.
The chicks are “toddlers” around the nest but are defenseless until they enter the water with their parents at around 12 weeks of age, so visitors have been asked to give them space and avoid disturbing them.
“They’re growing at an extraordinary rate. Week one: they were the size of a pigeon. Week two: they were the size of a very small duck. We were looking at the biggest one and we think it’s probably about 2ft high now.”
When the first egg hatched, he said, “Our wildest dreams have come true. We always hoped something like this would happen, but we never thought it would actually happen. It’s absolutely delightful to see something like this with the world the way it is. This is nature at its most beautiful.”
Wildlife officers especially enjoyed “seeing mothers take their young under their wing.”
The pelicans were confined to Duck Island during the bird flu outbreak earlier this year and were released on April 9. “We discovered they were nesting on April 13. So now we know what they do when you’re stranded on Duck Island doing nothing for a few weeks,” he said. “There was no TV to watch.”
