Featured Image Credit: Audubon Zoo
Audubon Zoo has announced that their flamingo family is growing for the second year in a row!
On the morning of July 4th, a flamingo gave birth to an adorable little chick. Around this exact same time last year, the zoo welcomed two chicks, which were the first chicks to exit an egg at the Audubon Zoo in more than five years!
The newest chick, whose gender is still undetermined, has proven to be a remarkably animated addition to the flamingo habitat. Just watch the video below and you’ll see how the little fluffy white chick is already developing its own little personality. In addition to the chick and its parents, the zoo has a collection of popular American flamingos – known for their long legs and beautiful pink hue (The pink coloration comes from the high quantities of beta carotene in their diet. Chicks are whitish-grey until the pigment builds up, which can take a year or two.)
“Flamingo chicks usually spend the first six to eight days after hatching on the nest mound, being fed and incubated by the parents,” said Carolyn Atherton, Audubon Zoo Curator of Birds. “On day three, this little one had enough of the nest mound and kept jumping out.
“Sticking with a plan that worked well last year, the parents of the newborn chick sat atop a “dummy’’ egg (a fake filled with plaster) while the real egg was being incubated artificially by the Bird Department. Later, Zoo staffers removed the fake egg from the parent’s nest, leaving the live one that was about to hatch.
This process ensures that live eggs are not knocked off their nests and broken by the birds who move about a great deal. Down the road, Atherton said Audubon will collect some feathers from the new chick and send them off for DNA testing to determine the bird’s gender. Typically, the Zoo’s bird department does not name any of the more than 90 flamingos in its collection.
While many flamingo eggs were laid this year, this hatchling might be the only one of the year.