Flamingo chicks born at WWT National Wetland Centre Wales
The first six fluffy Caribbean Flamingo Chicks of 2008 have been born at WWT National Wetland Centre Wales. The first chick was born on Thursday 17 July and they are now all being looked after by their proud pink parents.
Seventeen eggs have been laid this year and seven are known to be fertile, so the Grounds Team are still expecting another chick to hatch in the next week.
Grounds Manager, Richard Edwards, said: “We are very pleased to see the arrival of 5 Caribbean Flamingo Chicks here at the centre. We have had a long wait because the adult Flamingos have laid a full three weeks later this year, mainly due to all the bad weather we have had.”
“The chicks have now formed a crèche; giving eagle eyed visitors the opportunity of seeing the parenting skills of the Flamingos whilst all the chicks are huddled together”.
The Caribbean Flamingos are one of six species of Flamingos found in the world and are very social birds which need to be kept together in a large group in order for them to be happy. At the National Wetland Centre Wales there are currently have 53 adult Caribbean Flamingos, most of which have been successfully hatched at the centre as part of our captive breeding programme which began in 2003.
A single egg is laid by each pair and both the male and female take it in turns to incubate. Incubation takes approximately 28 days and all chicks are parent-reared as these social youngsters benefit from being with their Mum and Dad as well as with each other.
In addition, both male and female adult flamingos produce a special crop milk, feeding their babies beak to beak. The fluffy chicks grow very quickly (up to 2cm a day) and they are fully-fledged by the age of 3 months. They are usually grey or white in colouring and it takes approximately 2 to 3 years to obtain full pink plumage.
The chicks have arrived just in time to be the star attractions at this weekends ‘Flamingo Festival’ – 27 and 28 July 2008, which celebrates Flamingos in Llanelli and around the world. There will be a packed programme of Flamingo themed activities and of course, the chance to spot our new fluffy Flamingo chicks. Phone 01554 741087 for more information.
WWT National Wetland Centre Wales, Llanelli is open every day from 9.30am to 5pm (grounds open until 6pm in the summer) and parking is free of charge. It can be found 2 miles east of Llanelli off the A484 to Swansea. Follow the brown duck signs off the M4, J48. Nearest railway station is Llanelli and bus routes run from Llanelli bus and rail stations directly to the centre (July 23 – 30 August, Monday to Saturday).
