Pelicans of St James's Park

jennikate/Flickr (Creative Commons)

At a scenic duck pond in Central London near Buckingham Palace are some unusual residents — the famous pelicans of St. James Park, living thousands of miles from their usual habitat.

The colony of disturbingly large, but friendly, birds include five Eastern Whites and one South American White. Pelicans were first introduced to the park in 1664, a generous gift from a Russian Ambassador. In 2013, three of the five Eastern Whites arrived as a gift from the city of Prague, joining the descendants of the original Russian flock.

The pelicans can regularly be seen basking on rocks between 2:30 and 3:00 daily, when they are fed fish by the park rangers, when they aren’t sneaking into the London Zoo to pilfer the fish of their less free-range friends. The pelicans are extremely social, and quite used to human companionship — it’s not unusual for them to leave their lake to sit on the benches alongside bemused office workers and tourists.

Know Before You Go

There is a little cottage that sits on an islet, this is referred to as Duck Island. It is located just a few yards east of The Blue Bridge. The Pelicans will gather here because they are aware of their feeding times.

If one would like to get up close and personal with the Pelicans, they can book one of the tours through the park's events page.

The Park is open from 5 am to midnight all year around.