Eric! the saga continues...
The gruesome threesome are still going strong, and the Ericking is only getting louder!
Like the common cranes, exercise proves very important for the early development of young flamingos. As with any long-legged species the muscle growth needs to keep up with the weight of the body on top or they can begin to bow and twist. This is actually just the very reason that we have chosen to hand-rear these three birds, as out on the nesting island with the flock the natural daylight is rapidly deteriorating. Out in the group, a twisted bone cannot be reversed. During hand-rear however, if the legs show any sign of twisting a rectification can be attempted with splints or tape. To help the growth process therefore, in their second week of life we take them out on to the grass for a run!
This has brought up all manner of discoveries with our little charges. The three birds have been un-affectionately defined as Red tag, Blue tag and No tag, and little blue is proving to be a bit of a bully!
If we are ever to have any time to work on projects over the winter then the babes will need to learn to gel together into a little friendship group, but blue has put a spanner in the works. Phil tells me it is completely natural behaviour for juvenile flamingos to persecute each other on the nest in order to guarantee their next feed.
As the biggest of the babes, blue clearly thinks that he deserves special treatment, and has a nasty habit of pecking away at the back of the head of the other birds. Caught below with a guilty chunk of down in his beak, his activities are breaking up the group considerably. Unless they can all begin to get on, there is a threat that they will all become just that little bit too human an be unable to cope when they are returned to the flock, but I have high hopes that after blue has gained a bit more weight he will start to mellow.
You can see the extent of blue's hunger pangs by this photo. Trying to stimulate my thumb for food, food really is at the top of blue's list! By now their food ration is up to 15ml every two hours, and their little crops are bulging under the strain! As the days pass, their portion sizes increase and the protein content is lowered. As they get better at feeding the dirty smears of food around their mouths slowly disappear, and the whole process becomes a lot more convenient. At the moment they are putting on between 10-15 grams a day!
Keep tuned for more photos and another update in the next few days.
