Heartbeats of London – Feathers, Fur, and Friendship

Ducks, swans, pigeons, and squirrels here in London are as much an attraction for tourists as Tower Bridge, Soho, Buckingham Palace, Kensington, or even the numerous art galleries can ever aspire to be. A handful of birds and animals have helped shape London’s identity by influencing art, literature, tourism, and conservation efforts. I am not surprised that pigeons here are urban survivors, swans get royal tags, ducks and ponds go together, and nutty squirrels are a tourist’s best companion. Even policies, I believe, are formulated keep their welfare in view.

I read in one of the parks that swans have had a special status in London since the 12^th century and every every unmarked mute swan, including those in the Thames, are taken as the property of the monarch! The British call this ‘swan upping’ which is an annual event when officials count and mark the swan population. Most tourists sooner or later find out that swans can be pretty snooty, regal, and elusive just as they can be extremely photographer-friendly and even give a few unprompted poses for them. A riverside walk anywhere in London can bring one nearer to swans. Virginia Woolf immortalized swans of London when she wrote in ‘The Waves (1931)’: ‘And the great parapet of the bridge cast its shade so that the swans, as they pass under it, had their white necks momentarily blotted out.’ Walter de la Mare titled an entire poem ‘Swan’ (written in the 1920s):

‘Under the lily shadow
And the gold and the blue and the green,
That the high stars cover over,
He floated in fathomless air,
Wearing his wings like a crown,
Like a lily that stands on a mirror
To shiver there.’

We met London’s ducks in the Serpentine of Hyde Park and in St James’s Park Lake where I recollect talking to an old British lady who was doing a watercolour of the ducks there. She told me that ducks have been a part of the city since the 17^th century when King Charles II introduced exotic water birds. ‘Feeding ducks is a beloved tradition of family outings’, she added with a smile. Well, from a scientific point of view, ducks do contribute to the ecosystem by controlling insect populations and keeping ponds healthy. Anyone who has developed a love for reading will be aware of Beatrix Potter’s ‘The tale of Jemima Puddle-duck’ and though it is set in the countryside, I am assuming that even the ducks of London have a lot of relatives out there. London-specific ducks though a part of the Winnie-the-Pooh series of A A Milne. From  ‘When We Were Very Young’, 1924):

‘James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree
Took great care of his mother
Though he was only three.
James James said to his mother,
‘Mother,’ he said, said he
‘You must never go down to the end of the town,
If you don’t go down with me.’

Pigeons can be seen all over the city though they have fast gone down the popularity charts and have become an urban nuisance. This bird who has thrived on scraps and urban structures sine Roman Times, are now infamously called the invaders of Trafalgar Square! Damage to statues and public health are the two concerns that led to the 2003 ban on feeding pigeons in the Square. Now even urban planners are asked to include bird deterrence measures in their suggestions. Nevertheless, we loved these bold birds in London’s parks and have noticed they aren’t anywhere near the shy species found in India. Most tourists are enamoured by the pigeons here though the authorities find them impossible!

Virginia Woolf brings in pigeons in ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ (1925), setting a scene in London: ‘The pigeons, fat and complacent, roosted on the eaves of the houses, their feathers ruffled by the wind off the river.’ As I have already said before, the pigeons of London are fat, friendly, and smug because they know they are an intrinsic part of the landscape of this city.

I have seen hundreds of visitors stop and feed squirrels here in London and as one watches this drama unfold one knows how bold and friendly these, otherwise timid, creatures are. London, it has been recorded in history, was originally home to red squirrels but the grey squirrel from North America was introduced in the 19^th century and it is these that dominate the London landscape. They are just about everywhere though the ones inside parks are friendlier. The conservationists are obviously worried about the impact of the number of grey squirrels on the native species.

Thomas Hardy has a reference to squirrels in ‘Far from the madding crowd’ (1874) though this may not necessarily be about the reds of London. However, he writes about ‘a small squirrel… whisked into the fern and was seen no more…’ and I wonder if the author was worried about the long-term impact of the squirrels that came from America.

London is friendly to all animals and birds… and during one of my walks early in the morning, I met an urban fox near Royal Albert Wharf. I was not surprised, therefore, to find metal statues of urban foxes in the Gallions Reach market. There are sea gulls, ravens, robins, and cats that are also intricately woven into the life of a Londoner.

This love for animals has also been reflected in the works of many artists. Sir Peter Scott (1909 – 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, and wildlife artist and has many paintings dedicated to swans and waterfowl. Francis Bowyer, a contemporary painter known for his watercolours of the Serpentine and Hyde Park, has captured the movement of waterfowl in London’s urban nature. Charles Tennicliffe (1901 – 1979) is also a wildlife artist who has done detailed bird illustrations in books.

If you are visiting London and go back without a friendly chat with ducks, swans, squirrels, and pigeons here, your trip in hindsight will know it has missed something vital.
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Arvind Passey
Uploaded on 09 April 2025
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