On 18 June 2026, the Royal Parks officially announced that the pelicans of St James’s Park had successfully bred – for the first time ever!
As the friends group for St James’s Park and the Green Park, the Thorney Island Society were keen to find out more, so we were delighted when Nick Burnham, Senior Wildlife Officer, agreed to answer some of the questions we’ve been asked.
First things first: what’s the correct name for a baby pelican?
It’s quite simple – as with other birds, just a pelican chick. Although after a while chicks get together in what’s called a creche!
There have been pelicans in the park for around 360 years. Up till now, where have they come from?
Except for Gargi, 5 of the current 6 adults came from Prague Zoo, which has an excellent breeding programme. They’ve been donating since 1995. For the others it has been quite a mix. Originally a gift in 1664 by the Russian Ambassador, we’ve had donations from Kew Gardens, Brown Pelicans from the Governor of Texas, and American White Pelicans from the Governor of Louisiana!
The last American White pelican named Louis (named by park manager Mark) passed away in 2014, after arriving in 1982! Now we only house Eastern White pelicans.
There are four chicks. Is it possible to determine who the parents were, and whether all four are siblings?
Yes and no. We have 3 different nests but only 2 males, meaning that one of the males was not quite as monogamous as we thought!
The oldest chick is from Sun & Tiffany, the middle chick is from Moon & Isla, and the final 2 chicks are siblings being looked after by Gargi & Star. We assume Star is the mother, but we aren’t sure. We reckon the nesting urge is so strong that Gargi is helping to rear the young, stepping up to motherhood. Timing with Pride month, it’s a nice touch to have one same-sex pairing.
You had obviously been aware that they were nesting again. A couple of years ago they had laid at least one egg, but nothing hatched. This time around, what was your reaction when you saw the first chick?
You are always hopeful they’ll hatch but my initial reaction was surprise. Everything we had researched suggested pelicans required larger colonies (10+ individuals) to successfully breed. St James’s Park has a habit of breaking the mould.
The adult pelicans are fed fish on a daily basis. In the run-up to the new arrivals, did you notice their appetites growing?
We didn’t see an increase in appetite but rather a change to feeding timing. On advice from Blackpool Zoo, we increased our frequency of feeding to twice a day. Pelicans share incubation of eggs, so I’d feed 3 pelicans in the morning, then the other 3 in the afternoon once they swapped over.
Now with the chicks hatched, however, the appetite is huge. They regurgitate food for the chicks; we are being eaten out of house and home!
Do you expect that they will need any intervention from Royal Parks staff, or will you generally leave them to get on with things?
Thankfully we have quite a hands-off approach with the pelicans at the moment. We feed the parents, who in turn will feed the chicks. We are continuing to monitor the group to make sure everyone is feeding and growing. We also have connections with Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and ZSL London Zoo if intervention is required.
The plan is to leave them to get on with things, as you say.
A lot of people were surprised to see in the first photos that the chicks were a fuzzy dark brown or black colour. How long will it take for their plumage to develop to the whitish pink of the adults?
We believe it will take quite a while before they have their fully white plumage. When Sun, Moon & Star arrived in 2019 they were 6 months old. Full-sized but with a mix of white and darker plumage (like a juvenile swan). The fuzzy downy feathers will disappear, but they’ll remain browny black for half a year at least.
When do you think we’ll see them swimming on the lake?
It’s hard to know for sure. On research they fledge between 9-12 weeks of age; it’s possible they’ll take to the water before that. My guess would be towards the end of July we should see them on the water, but you never know – possibly earlier.
Of the six adults, only Gargi is able to fly. Once the chicks are grown up, will we see them flying about, too?
Unfortunately not, no. The 4 chicks have already been pinioned – the process must be done in the first few days of hatching, to minimise health risks. Legally, we cannot allow a non-native species to escape into the wild, so therefore we have to restrict their flight. Gargi is the exception as she is a truly wild bird and does not belong to the park. [For the technically curious, see this Government guidance on section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.]
The Royal Parks have asked members of the public to take care once they are out and about, in particular making sure dogs are on leads. The adults are usually quite unfazed by passers-by looking at them and taking photos and videos. Is it safe to assume the adults will be much more aggressive until the chicks are fully grown?
I do hope they are, yes! During nesting when we’ve had to approach the nest for various reasons the adults have kept a very close eye on us and aren’t afraid to take swipes with their beaks. We hope the chicks also learn the behaviours of their parents, sleeping on pelican rock or West Island, and not approaching the public for food.
Crystal ball time: do you think this means they are likely to breed again, or was this probably a one-off season?
It’s certainly possible they could breed again another year; it would be springtime and the parents will only gain experience and maturity as time goes on. That being said, chasing down 10 pelicans along the Mall sounds difficult enough!
Thank you very much for your time!
Photos by Sam Bonham, The Royal Parks
