London park welcomes historic new arrivals with surprising Royal connection

"’Can you come and collect your pelican?’ It’s a semi-regular phone call we get,” says Mark Wasilewski, manager of St James's Park, London. "The group of pelicans we have now is by far the most mischievous. And now there are four youngsters to look after as well, so we're going to have to learn how to cope." Mark first came to St James's Park - a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace - in 1991, spending five years there before moving to Regent's Park, then returning as manager in 2002. He was speaking as four pelican chicks, the first to hatch in the park's history, celebrated their first month of life and became the newest additions to the long and colourful history of the park's beloved birds. Pelicans have lived there since 1664, when a pair was presented to King Charles II by the Russian Ambassador. They lived initially in an aviary on what is now Birdcage Walk. Since then, more than 40 pelicans have called the park home, cared for originally by the keeper of the King's birds. Mark has a list of every bird since 1897, saying: “It’s basically a pelican list of births, marriages and deaths." While the early history of the birds is sketchy, there is lots of detail about the comings and goings of the flock in the 20th century. Pelicans arrived from Kew Gardens in 1903 and were still recorded in the park in 1928 and 1929, meaning they survived the First World War, during which the lake is understood to have been partially drained to make way for temporary wartime buildings for civil servants. "We had one called Peter," Mark says, reading from the list. "That came to us from Kew Gardens in 1903." Not all arrivals went smoothly. In 1953, four American white pelicans were gifted to the park by the governor of Louisiana. One did not make it past the border. Mark explains: "One had heart failure on arrival in the country. And, despite a timely dram of whiskey administered on the advice of the zoo curator, didn’t make it." The other three, unimpressed by their new home, took to the air. Two of this group were named Wilfred and Daphne, and Daphne would become famous in later years as the sole surviving pelican of the 1970s, known to parkgoers as the Lady of the Lake. The American pelicans became a running theme, at times a politically charged one. In 1951 the Daily Express objected to the arrival of American brown pelicans with the headline: "Next thing we'll be having G.I.s on guard at Buckingham Palace." Those birds were a saltwater species, not suited to the freshwater lake, and they were replaced. The episode also had a Cold War dimension. The US ambassador, visiting the Foreign Secretary and learning of the Russian origin of the park's pelicans, felt America could not be outdone. When the American birds arrived they seemed unhappy, prompting accusations from each side until it was discovered the wrong species had been sent. White pelicans were substituted and the two flocks lived together in peace. In November 1951, responding to concerns about a dwindling population, Minister of Works David Eccles told the House of Commons: "The right sort of birds are difficult to get but the Department is trying to replace these amiable inhabitants of St. James's Park." In 1969, park bird-keeper Arthur May tried to take matters into his own hands, building a nest himself in an attempt to encourage the birds to mate - but it didn’t work. Mark says: "I think he just put some twigs and things on the ground, hoping they would go and rest there, but they didn’t.” By 1995 the question of whether the park's pelicans would ever breed had reached the House of Lords. Lord Inglewood said: "As for the nature of the community in which pelicans live, it is similar to that experienced in monasteries and nunneries." Mark's records show that formal naming of the birds only began in 1977, when the names for two pelicans gifted by the Russian ambassador were put to a public vote. "We had unusual names suggested like Vodka and Lime," Mark says. "But they chose Astra and Khan." But Astra was soon evicted. "Astra got transferred to London Zoo for unsociable habits," says Mark. Those habits were a tendency to eat pigeons. The pigeon problem resurfaced with other birds, periodically causing public outrage. Two pelicans were sent to London Zoo in 1981 after complaints about the spectacle, and in October 2006 one famously swallowed a live pigeon whole. The flock’s other mischievous habit is escapology. In 1996, a man named Mr Soloman returned to his garden in Southend to find a large white pelican standing in his driveway. After two to three weeks of the pelican showing no intention of leaving, and running up a considerable bill in sprats, Mr Soloman asked the Royal Parks if they would like her, and the bird - Gargi - was taken to St James’ where she’s lived ever since. As a wild bird who had never been clipped, Gargi remains free to fly. Around 30 years old, she’s been known, Mark says, to fly to London Zoo to steal fish, before returning for her regular meals. During lockdown she disappeared entirely for several days, later spotted at Staines upon Thames. Mark went to his wildlife officer to raise the alarm. "I said how the hell are we going to go and get her back?" The officer said: "Have you ever been to Staines upon Thames? She'll soon be back." She was, the following day. The pelicans are free to roam, with no area of the park considered out of bounds. Mark says: "Very often you can't get a park bench, because there's a favourite spot. If people are sat near the park benches, they'll just jump up and push the people off.” They have been photographed outside Buckingham Palace. They wander into Green Park across the road. Two once made it as far as Northumberland Avenue, the other side of Trafalgar Square, before a police officer from Scotland Yard stables loaded them into his van and brought them home. Avian flu meant that at the beginning of 2026 the pelicans were kept isolated on Duck Island as a precaution. When they were released in April, staff noticed they had started building nests. It appears that being cooped up together had done what 360 years of management had failed to achieve. Mark says: "When you're cooped up on Duck Island with nothing to do for several weeks, we know now what they do." The new additions are certainly going to be demanding - although Mark and his staff can’t wait until the birds are old enough to take to the water. "Our wildest dreams were fulfilled," Mark says of the chicks. “But if the adults we have now are a handful, just wait until these youngsters emerge. Life is going to be very interesting with these four.” Pelicans in numbers - There are 6 pelicans in St James’s Park: Isla, Tiffany, Gargi, Sun, Moon, and Star. (plus four new arrivals.) - They are great white pelicans living freely, but managed within the park around Duck Island. - Their wingspan can reach 3.5 metres. - T-heir diet is mainly fresh fish (roach, herring, mackerel, whiting) and they eat between 1 and 2kg a day. - Most are wing-clipped (non-flying), except Gargi who is fully flight-capable. - They typically live 15–25 years in the wild, but can exceed this in managed care.