Скачать или смотреть First Flamingo Chicks Hatch and Play

Four baby flamingos stayed close to their individual parents while exploring the island in the exhibit where they were hatched at the San Diego Zoo. The chicks will stay with a parent for the first 5 to 7 days on a nest mound created for the chick. Once the chicks are bigger and more confident, they will explore off the island by wading in the water surrounding it.

The Zoo currently has four Caribbean flamingo chicks ranging from 1 to 8 days old. At hatch, flamingo chicks have gray down feathers and are the size of a tennis ball with legs. Guests visiting the Zoo can expect to see more chicks throughout June as animal care staff expect up to six more hatchlings.

"There are over 70 birds in this flamingo colony and they all breed around the same time," said Joop Kuhn, animal care manager for the bird department at the San Diego Zoo. "Flamingos are colony nesters, so there is safety in numbers. There are more eyes and ears looking out for disturbances to the colony, and it helps when raising young at the same time," Kuhn said.

The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are among only a handful of zoos in the world to raise four of the five flamingo species: Caribbean flamingos, a greater flamingo subspecies, Chilean flamingos and lesser flamingos. Together, the Zoo and Park have successfully hatched over 450 chicks.

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