FLAMINGOS

First of all, Happy Canada Day to all my friends in the north.  May it be a very happy one for you all.

It's also National Zoo Day, and thank you Sandra from Madsnapper for letting me know that.  I didn't realize what day it was when I started posting my zoo posts.  I have one more coming up tomorrow.

More photos from another zoo.  We were in Honolulu at the end of 2008, beginning of 2009.  There was a flock of flamingos to greet us as we made our way through the entrance. Extraordinary birds don't you think, with their long legs and the most interesting looking beaks? They are equipped with a feeding system unlike any bird on earth, and their beaks have evolved to skim tiny algae from the water's surface.

I read there are six species of flamingos, all of which come from rather harsh, inhospitable environments. Some species live on frozen windswept saline lakes at high altitudes in the Andes mountains, while others nest on caustic alkaline mud flats that contain boiling mud pots erupting from volcanic fissures.

At the time of our visit and not sure if this is still the case obviously, the Honolulu Zoo had two species, the American (or Caribbean) from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, and the Lesser Flamingo from East Africa, the Middle East and India. The American Flamingo is certainly the most colorful and well known, and the kind that greeted us at the Zoo.

Their beautiful color is acquired from their diet. The small crustaceans and algae that the flamingos eat contain carotenoid and other natural pigments that are processed in the body and deposited in the growing feathers. (Carotene is one of the most common carotenoid pigments and is what makes Carrots and other vegetables orange in color.) Only specific red chemical compounds will color Flamingos. This means that you can't turn a Flamingo blue by feeding it blue colored food.

Flamingoes are very social birds and will not nest unless there are a number of other flamingos present. Usually there is a "critical mass" of birds that is needed to initiate breeding and smaller flocks tend not to breed as well as larger ones. During the breeding season, group behavior is very important to get the entire flock "in the mood" for breeding and synchronize the production of eggs.

Although Flamingos are extremely social, they spend quite a bit of time fighting with each other. These are usually only noisy squabbles and pecking skirmishes, and never cause any damage or harm. When nesting you can see that each nest is placed exactly one neck length away from its neighbor, just within arguing distance. The most disastrous consequence of all this fighting is broken or "scrambled eggs!"

Flamingos build a very interesting nest. Since they nest on barren mud flats, there is nothing else to build a nest from except the mud itself. The mud is piled up one mouthful at a time till it forms a tall 1 to 3 foot cone with a shallow indentation in the top for the single egg. The tall nest is a hedge against rising waters that may wash away the eggs and the height keeps the egg and chick off the hot searing alkaline floor of the mud flat. There can be a 20 to 30 degree temperature difference from the hot ground and the top of the nest!

At the time of writing, the Honolulu Zoo flock numbered 19 birds. Most of these birds were quite old and could be considered geriatric. All but 5 of the birds were adults in 1968 when they arrived at the Zoo. That makes most of the flock over 30 years old. That is not exceptional for a flamingo, but since these were adult birds when they arrived, they could have been 10 to 20 years old or older. Four of the five other birds were born at Sea World of California in 1989.

The youngest bird in the flock was Sherman, and was the only Flamingo to be born at the Honolulu Zoo.  Sherman's egg was laid in 1993 and his parents tried to take good care of it. Unfortunately, one of the Flamingos infamous squabbles ended with Sherman's egg being knocked from its nest and rolled into the pool. When the keepers found the egg the next morning it was cold and wet and it was thought that there would be little chance it would hatch. The determined keepers moved the egg to an incubator and hoped for the best. Miraculously, the egg hatched and the chick was named Sherman.  (I wonder how many more Sherman's have been born at the zoo since our visit back in 2008/2009?)

Raising Sherman was a struggle. Young Flamingos have a very specific diet and the food must be dribbled into their throats like the adult Flamingos do. Sherman also had several medical problems, but with round the clock keeper care, and medical help from the zoo's veterinarians, he pulled through. As he got a bit older, he was taken out to the Flamingo pond every day to mingle with the other birds. Sherman though, prefers to think he is a human. To this day he follows the keepers around and will often lay his head on their shoulder. If you notice a Flamingo marching up and down calling to the visitors with a band on his leg with the number #3 on it, that is Sherman.  (Hopefully Sherman is still entertaining everyone at the zoo.)

All this information was found at the zoo's website.

Thank you for stopping by and 

enjoy the rest of your week.