PELICANS eat fish. It’s well known. Except when they have a fancy for a pigeon.
The luckless pigeon was pottering about St James’ Park in London looking for titbits from tourists when a pelican ambled up and scooped it up in its bill.
Horrified children enjoying the half-term break were reduced to tears as the pigeon struggled for 20 minutes in the Eastern White pelican’s beak before being swallowed.
The bizarre form of pest control astonished ornithologists. "All the expert books say pelicans live on a diet of fish," said a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. "This is quite extraordinary."
Cathal McNaughton, the Press Association photographer who pictured the pigeon being eaten, said the pelican’s actions caught everyone by surprise.
"Tourists had been standing next to it to have their pictures taken with it. It wandered up the tow path and completely out of the blue it snatched the pigeon off the ground. I was totally shocked."
Pelicans were first introduced to the park in 1664 as a gift to King Charles II from the Russian ambassador. Four Eastern White Pelicans and one Louisiana Brown Pelican are currently resident.
Eastern White Pelicans went into steep decline in the wild during the 20th century but the population is now stable with 4,000 breeding pairs.

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