For the first time in more than 360 years, pelican chicks have hatched in St James's Park, London. The arrival marks a historic moment for the royal park, which has been home to pelicans since 1664 when the Russian ambassador presented a pair to King Charles II.
The first of four chicks hatched on 17 May, and all have survived their first month, much to the delight of Royal Parks manager Mark Wasilewski. 'This really is a first for us,' he said. 'We're gobsmacked.'
A Historic First
Although pelicans have lived in St James's Park for centuries, none had ever bred there until now. The park currently houses six adult great white pelicans: two males named Sun and Moon, and four females named Star, Isla, Tiffany, and Gargi.
'Pelicans normally only breed when they're in large groups of 10, 12 or more,' Wasilewski explained. 'We've always had between two and six – never a great number – and as the pelicans have passed away, we've decided when it's time to bring in some more … just to keep that tradition going, which we think is a really important tradition for St James's Park.'
The Nesting Process
Five eggs were laid across three nests. Eight-year-old Star and 30-year-old Gargi, described as an 'elderly female pelican', have been sharing incubation duties on one nest. 'One of the two males must have impregnated one of them, but unfortunately we don't know which of the two actually laid the eggs,' Wasilewski said. 'And we don't know which dad has played around.'
Gargi has been a permanent resident since she was found in a garden in Southend in 1996, though she occasionally flies to London Zoo in Regent's Park to steal fish.
Chick Development
The chicks have a ferocious appetite, which Wasilewski says 'is good news,' and described them as 'ever so ugly.' 'Someone said they look a little like dinosaurs. They're completely black, they're featherless and already they've got the little pointed bills,' he said.
The chicks are beginning to grow a 'nice furry chestnut-brown down' but will not develop feathers until they are eight or nine weeks old. They are 'just beginning to waddle' around the nest but remain vulnerable until they take to the water with their parents at around 12 weeks old. Visitors have been urged to give them space and avoid disturbing them.
'They're growing at an enormously fast 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 eldest one and we think it's probably about 2ft high now already,' Wasilewski said.
Expert Care and Joy
Wasilewski is working with Blackpool Zoo, the Royal Veterinary College, ZSL, and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust to provide expert care for the chicks. When the first egg hatched, he said, 'our wildest dreams were fulfilled. We were always hoping that something like that would happen but we never really thought it would. It's absolutely delightful … with the world as it is, to see something like this. It's nature at its best.'
Wildlife officers have particularly enjoyed 'seeing the mothers nestling the youngsters under their wings.'
Background
The pelicans were enclosed on Duck Island during the avian flu outbreak earlier this year and were released on 9 April. 'On the 13 April, we discovered they were making a nest. So when you're cooped on Duck Island with nothing to do for several weeks, we know now what they do,' Wasilewski joked, adding, 'There was no television to watch.'
