First pelicans in 360 years hatch in St James’s Park London
Key takeaways
- Photograph: The Royal Parks/PAView image in fullscreen‘This is a first for us’: the adults and four chicks.
- They arrived in the royal park shortly before the Great Fire of London, when the Russian ambassador presented a pair to King Charles II as a gift.
- But although pelicans have been living in St James’s Park since 1664, none ever learned the art of courtship – until now, when for the first time in more than 360 years, chicks have been born.
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Photograph: The Royal Parks/PAView image in fullscreen‘This is a first for us’: the adults and four chicks. Photograph: The Royal Parks/PABirds First pelicans in 360 years hatch in St James’s Park London Birds have been in the park since the Russian ambassador gave King Charles II two in 1664 – but none ever bred there
Prefer the Guardian on Google. They arrived in the royal park shortly before the Great Fire of London, when the Russian ambassador presented a pair to King Charles II as a gift.
But although pelicans have been living in St James’s Park since 1664, none ever learned the art of courtship – until now, when for the first time in more than 360 years, chicks have been born.