Eric! Bending beaks.
Introducing my favourite flamingo photo to date... They truly are so wonderful with those soft little eyes and geeky aspect. Having becoming weaned from syringe food (and regretting it almost constantly) number 2's beak started to bend almost overnight! Colour wise they have fluctuated between the early shocking pink and a soft grey, the pink re-occurring during periods of growth. The photo above shows the beginning of that inexorable curve on a bright pink background. You can just about see that the little filter ridges are forming on the edge of the underside of the upper mandible, ready to begin filter feeding. In addition there is a lot of skin flakes, possibly a sign of rapid growth. That enormous beak is still mostly alien to the little flamingos; most feeding now occurring through picking up individual pellets and inelegantly gobbling them to the back of the throat. At this point the concept of filter feeding is a whole other weaning process that is still to occur.
What a difference 14 days makes! Number 3 (pictured below) has now shed much of the white juvenile down and acquired the secondary dense grey layer. The beak is now wonderfully curved, with a smooth deep grey colour and very little flaking. The basis of the adult shape is now in place, with maybe just a few degrees to go in order to achieve the flat filter base they need. There is now a very evident line of filter lamelae from top to tip of the upper mandible, although the nostril is still a little prominent. Little number 3 has always loved his puddles, and has got in a lot of early filter practice. I am really looking forward to introducing the three of them to a milled food substance to encourage late weaning. I just can't believe how quickly the birds have changed aesthetically. Photos like this really highlight just how much they have grown!
