FLAMINGOS, MEMPHIS ZOO

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Location: Memphis Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Source: www.memphiszoo.org
Info: Flamingos at Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, United States. The species shown are Chilean flamingos. Flamingos get their beautiful pink colouring from a carotenoid pigment consumed through their food.
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More info: In the wild, Chilean flamingos breed in colonies numbering up to thousands of birds, and mate from April to May, after courtship rituals involving synchronized dancing, neck stretching preening, and honking. Chilean flamingos nest in isolated lagoons, with shallow water. The nest is built by both parents in muddy areas where the mud is scooped and piled into a mound about 15 inches in diameter and 12 inches high. These mounds serve as protection against the extreme heat and flooding that occurs at ground level.

The female flamingo lays one white egg. Incubation lasts around 30 days. The chick hatches with a grey down covering, and stays for 5 to 12 days in the nest. During this period, it is fed with “milk”, a secretion from the crop, which is regurgitated for the chick. Both male and female flamingos feed their chick this way and a begging call made by the chick stimulates the secretion of the milk. The chick fledges 65 to 70 days after hatching and becomes mature within 3 to 5 years.

Because they hatch in such inhospitable places, adult Chilean flamingos are not threatened with predation but gulls make take their eggs.

Video showing colourful Chilean flamingos at Mamphis Zoo:

Additional Information:

Chilean Flamingo - Reid park Zoo - Reid park Zoo

Pink Flamingos: Chile’s Resilient Atacama Desert Flamingos - discover.silversea.com

Flamingo - New World Encyclopoedia - newworldencyclopedia.org

Flamingo Fact Sheet - Nature PBS - pbs.org