natjtan Swan’s aren’t the only ugly ducklings. Flamingo chicks after their cute baby chick white plumage turns grey are ugly duckling contenders. Once they hit teenage chicks months their beauty starts to shine. Grey slowly starts turning pink as they start feeding for themselves.
I always love watching baby flamingos grow up in just a few months at Barcelona Zoo. I just hope when they get rehomed, it’s a good place. Nesting started back in May and all are now in nursery or kindergarten. Some chicks only hatched last week. Maybe this was a space thing at the zoo or a hierarchy thing. It’s sweet how they’re being independent but still need Mama and Dad to feed them. What’s not sweet is a flamingo cloaca. I can’t shake one from memory as while shaking its pompom feathers as I managed unintentionally photo it. No Pretty in Pink.
First round of chicks. The zoo helps them out by building mini mounds which the flamingos build on.
That aside these cute, loud, proud, elegant, stinky baby birds make the cutest content squeaks and chirps. I was surprised reading raising flamingo chicks is a group thing. I thought each family was to itself as the adults are always arguing over something which is swiftly noisily dealt with. I get a little upset when the teenagers start trying to fly. The whole flock starts take off but as their flight feathers are clipped these guys are more like ostriches. I have mixed feelings about zoos. Barcelona Zoo is a good zoo. Many enclosures they’re updating and some I’d love for them to have more room, such as the big cats, bison, farm animals, some monkeys, lemurs, parrots and hyenas (the dolphins and seals I’d prefer they were never there to begin with). I realised this morning many of the residents need meat and being a vegan it’s hypercritical going. Flip side the animals are educating the public and some are being raised for conservation and reintroduction into the wild. I’ve always said the zoo’s my escape from the city as it’s so green.
First chicks!
I’m the worst photo editor. There were too many photos to choose from! Nesting started late May so I have 3 months of flamingo chick photos. Cup of tea or coffee?!
After about a week, they join nursery.
Way too cute!
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I enjoy birds, but I never cared for them at zoos because the odors were always so super concentrated. I never wanted to go anywhere near their enclosures.
I get you. It’s usually the birds that live communally in the world that are stinky in zoos too, like penguins, sea bird colonies, flamingos etc. It’s their poop that stinks!