The Flamingo chicks hatched four weeks ago. The Greater Flamingos had two chicks, and the Cuban had one. Our Flamingo flock has been increasing nicely for several successive years, and the Flamingo parents are quite self-sufficient – they build their own nests, and raise their chicks well. There is no aggression in the flock, and even though the birds sometimes make threatening moves towards their immediate neighbors, everything always ends peacefully.
Flamingo chicks come out of the egg clad in white down, with pink feet and pink beaks. During their second week of life they develop their second down coat, which is grey with black feet and black beaks. In about another two weeks they go through another change of coat, when the down becomes darker, and the beak starts curving downwards. After the down change, chicks begin to grow feathers, and by two months of age they are fully feathered. Young Flamingos reach sexual maturity by three years of age. For now, the chicks are being fed by their parents. But they are already trying to catch live food in the shallow water, imitating the movements of adult birds.
Just like for most of our zoo birds, a hot summer is a great benefit for the Flamingos, as the chicks grow well and don`t get sick. Flamingos are amazing birds, and there are not many people who would not be touched by their spectacular appearance. Looking at the Flamingos, one of our visitors said – that is not a durable bird! But appearances can be deceptive, and with all their seeming fragility, Flamingos can withstand night frost on high mountain water reservoirs as well as the heat. Flamingo beaks are very unusual, and their construction allows the birds to eat with their heads down, while the lower part of the beak comes up on top of its upper part.
Flamingos are good fliers, so our adult Flamingos have pinioned wings. Sometimes we would forget to clip the wings of the growing chicks, and they would fly up and land on the Big Pond, not far from their home flock. But the Big Pond is deep, and, not being able to reach the bottom with their feet, they would have to try swimming. And Flamingos turned out to be really bad swimmers, somehow always stroking sideways, so we would have to rescue them by boat and return them to their flock. Flamingos build odd-looking nests that resemble a conical tower. Being concerned about the welfare of our birds, we tried to help them by building prefabricated nests, and placed concrete rings filled with mud into their enclosure. But the birds ignored our efforts and built their own nests next to our prefabricated ones, using the materials “at hand”, which consisted of mud and their own feathers.
And now our Flamingo chicks are going through an interesting stage – they are learning new moves by imitating their parents, looking like endearing little copies of adult birds.
Video: Flamingo chicks imitating their parents.
