Flamingo Chicks Hatching One After Another

Anyone visiting the Zoo right now should definitely stop by the greater flamingos, as the chicks are hatching one after another among these elegant and graceful birds. At the moment, the chicks don’t stray far from their nests, so you can spot them near the nests, among the tall, slender legs of the adult birds. Soon, they will start exploring the entire enclosure, though always under the watchful eyes of their parents. Shortly after that, a “flamingo kindergarten” will be formed, as the colony eventually gathers the growing chicks into a group, making it easier to watch over them.

In theory, the greater flamingo is listed as one of the bird species in Hungary, as wandering individuals sometimes make their way to the country. However, they prefer Mediterranean, subtropical, and tropical habitats, so in the wild, they are more commonly found in Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Southwest and South Asia. Their Latin name, Phoenicopterus roseus, refers to their slightly paler colour compared to, for example, the more reddish American or Caribbean flamingo.

We have been breeding these birds successfully at our Zoo. Thanks to this, our flamingo colony now consists of around 130 birds, and we typically see 20–25 chicks hatch and grow successfully each year. As a result, we are able to provide some of the offspring to other zoos.

Flamingos build their nests out of sand and mud, forming small mounds that resemble miniature volcanoes. The egg is laid in a depression or “crater” at the top of the mound, preventing it from rolling away. Each flamingo egg is 8–9 cm long, 5 cm wide, and weighs between 115 and 140 grams (roughly 4.06 to 4.94 ounces, twice the size of a medium or large chicken egg).

The chicks hatch after an incubation period of about a month. Since there is usually only one egg per nest, most pairs raise just one chick at a time. However, since breeding within the colony is seasonal and synchronized, the females typically lay their eggs within a few hours or days of each other, meaning the chicks also hatch within a few days of one another.

After hatching, the chick is not very active at first, needing to recover from the ordeal of breaking out of the egg. Initially, both its beak and legs are pink, but by the time it is a week to ten days old, they will turn black. The beak starts out straight, so unlike the adults, the chicks cannot filter tiny organisms from the water just yet. Instead, the adults feed them a nutrient-rich secretion called crop milk, produced in the crop area. By the end of the third month, the chicks’ beaks have developed significantly, taking on the characteristic curve, and the filtering structures inside the beak (lamellae) have formed. At this point, the young flamingos begin eating the same food as the adults.