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Flamingos

Laurie Conrad and Susie Kasielke

Natural History

There are six species of flamingo: Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), American Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber), Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis), Lesser Flamingo
(Phoeniconaias minor), Andean Flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus), and Puna Flamingo
(Phoenicoparrus jamesi). All have similar natural history characteristics. They feed primarily on
aquatic invertebrates and algae by filtration, form monogamous pairs, breed in dense colonies of
thousands to over a million pairs, and are long‐lived. As colonial wading birds, flamingos nest on
or near water sources and rely on water for building nest mounds of mud and reducing predator
activity. A single egg is laid atop a volcano‐shaped mound built by the pair. Both the sire and dam
incubate the egg for 27–30 days and feed the chick with crop milk, produced in the lining of the
adult crop. In the wild, chicks are reared in crèches, allowing parents to leave the colony to feed
while a few adults provide “day care.” Chicks fledge at 65–90 days.

­ Criteria­for Intervention

Wild­Colonies
Rescue of chicks from wild colonies depends on the species, population concerns, likelihood of
intervention causing additional chicks to become abandoned, and the governmental regulations
and cultural norms in the affected habitat. Disturbance or water level fluctuations may cause nest
abandonment, and abandoned flamingo eggs and chicks will not survive without intervention if
not already part of a crèche. In the right conditions, eggs may hatch days after abandonment leav-
ing chicks to die on the mound. Legislative issues combined with animal welfare and conflicting
input from stakeholders may delay intervention while decisions are agreed upon, particularly with
no disaster management plan. Delays in care lead inevitably to worsening condition and prognosis
for rescued chicks. It is ideal for wildlife regulatory agencies to have a management plan based on
possible contingencies in advance, particularly in places where a large breeding area is within an
urban district or is heavily observed by a concerned public. Intervention that results in rescue of
hundreds to thousands of chicks requires resources equivalent to a large oil spill, with a manage-
ment structure to supply knowledgeable and timely decision‐making, sufficient experienced car-
egivers, and appropriate housing, food supplies, and funding.

Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition. Edited by Rebecca S. Duerr and Laurie J. Gage.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.