Flamboyance of flamingos born at SeaWorld San Diego

SeaWorld’s Flamingo Cove is now home to seven new family members. Caribbean flamingo breeding season is here and SeaWorld has welcomed seven new adorable flamingo chicks. Guests can see the chicks (ranging in age from 2 to 11 days old) at any time during park opening hours.

SeaWorld’s work with Caribbean flamingos is important now more than ever, as their wild counterparts in South America and the Caribbean are being threatened by human activity. Out of the 35,000 animals that SeaWorld has rescued in its 55-year history (a milestone reached just last week), the majority are birds. Ocean debris that washes ashore is a huge threat to their survival.

FAST FLAMINGO FACTS:

• Flamingo egg incubation, which lasts about 28 days, begins soon after the egg is laid.
• Both the male and female take turns incubating the egg by sitting on top of the nest mound.
• Once hatched, both parents feed the chick by producing a secretion called “crop milk”.
• Newly-hatched chicks have grey or white down feathers. Chicks lose their juvenile grey or white colour gradually over a two– or three–year period, at which time their pink feathers begin to show.
• The pink coloration comes from the carotenoid proteins in their diet. Caribbean flamingos eat larval and pupal forms of flies and brine shrimp as their main food.
• While most people will call them a flock, the technical term for a group of flamingos is a Flamboyance of Flamingos due to their bright pink colour.