It's all go with the Chileans
So it's been hotter than Barbados and Hawaii apparently over this past week and the flamingos at WWT Slimbridge have been enjoying the warmth and the sunshine immensely. Lots of sunshine is excellent news for growing chicks. Keeping them warm and dry, and helping them grow up on tall, strong legs. But this is not another post on the greater flamingos and their multitude of youngsters. This post is all about the Chilean flamingos. You remember them? Fickle flock that they are. Sometimes nesting at the end of summer. Sometimes skipping a few years. Sometimes being very productive (as they were in 2013). Well this year they have decamped to a new nesting area that some of the older members of the flock remember from back in the day that their South American Pen was a slightly different shape.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reNf2EyS2BQ&list=UUp41rC1pWyYfO5RLXe6VUMg']
The Chilean flamingos start their courtship display early in the year, around Easter time, but they seem to wait until the warmer weather kicks in over summer before nests and eggs appear. Sparky and Phil do a good job of knowing when the birds are ready to nest and flood out the nesting island to encourage the birds to start building. In spite of their best efforts, the birds don't always chose these lovely prepared nests and construct their own mounds where they feel best. And once one starts building in a new place, others will follow. Whilst the courtship display and the nest building is very obvious, the formation of the pair bond between the male and female flamingo is less obvious to see and more subtle. Birds that "fancy" each other will follow each other away from the main flock and then amble around together, the male close behind the female. But this is about all that you will see. There is a short clip below:
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS9RPkpIbxo&index=2&list=UUp41rC1pWyYfO5RLXe6VUMg']
So with all of this pair bonding, nest building and some egg laying, this is all very exciting and let's hope that in a month or so's time, there will be fluffy grey chick gracing the South American Pen. And speaking of fluffy grey chicks, look what is peeking out of the back of the Caribbean Pen... :-) Enjoy!
