Flamingos are one of the most popular animals exhibited in animal collections. If you’re keen to learn more about them and delve deeper in the ways in which WWT keeps its flamingos then follow Paul's diary up-to-date with all things flamingo. Paul Rose is a PhD student from the University of Exeter’s Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, currently based in the Conservation Programmes Directorate at WWT, who is investigating the social behaviour of captive flamingo flock
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Flamingo diary
New insights for January
Happy New Year flamingo followers. Unfortunately I cannot really say much about flamingo behaviour at WWT for this first month of the year as the flocks are currently shut away in their houses, safe and warm, until environmental conditions improve and t
22 January 2017
Planet Earth's flamingos and the work of WWT
Twenty sixteen has been a good year for flamingos. Not only are the WWT birds award winning, and several Slimbridge birds celebrated milestone anniversaries, but there has been a surge in flamingo science, with many new articles and research papers publi
18 December 2016
It's all about the flamingo science!
Back in October, along with several other WWT colleagues, I attend the BIAZA (the British & Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Bird Working Group (BWG) meeting at Chester Zoo, in my capacity as Research Officer for the BWG to spread the love for sci
12 November 2016
Catching flamingos in Wales
As autumn is a quiet time in the flamingo calendar, it is a good part of the year to organise and run a flamingo catch. As nesting is over, and birds are not really in display mode, there is minimal disturbance to the flock. The latest WWT flamingo catch
12 October 2016
A day in the life of a WWT flamingo keeper
In this instalment of the flamingo diary I thought I would talk about the people behind the flamingos at WWT Slimbridge alongside of the birds themselves. I mention a lot about Sparky and Phil, and the other avics who have a role in maintaining the flamin
13 September 2016
Summer lull but still lots to look out for.
It's a calm time of the year in the various flamingo flocks at WWT Slimbridge. The breeding season for the big greater and Caribbean flocks has wound down and whilst there still may be activity from the Chilean flamingos it seems that activity levels real
21 August 2016
Some very special birthdays
OK, so this is a bit of a contrived title as I don't really know the birthdays of the birds involved precisely, but this feels like a good time of the year to write about them. As this year, 2016, is a milestone for several flamingos at WWT Slimbridge. WW
25 July 2016
The science behind Slimbridge's birds
The greater flamingos in Flamingo Lagoon reside with five species of African wildfowl. The enclosure caters for all and hence the birds can rub along without any problems. A slight break with tradition for this post. Previously, I have explained about m
28 June 2016
What are the Andeans up to?!
I refuse to get excited by the behaviours that are on-going in the Andean Pen. Which is already a lie as I have ditched staring an Excel spread sheet and some horrendous statistics to write this diary post instead... The Andean flamingos are building,
8 June 2016
Flamingo projects 2016 part 3.
It’s egg-hatching time in Flamingo Lagoon as the greater flamingos reach the end of their 30-day incubation period. Look out for grey-coloured chicks appearing from now! This will certainly be a treat for Imogen, the final MSc student to introduce you
30 May 2016
Flamingo projects 2016 part 2
The Chilean flamingo flock at WWT Slimbridge provides an excellent research tool for investigating animal behaviour. MSc student Beth perches on the lawn in front of the stepping stones to get a flamingo-eye level view into the heart of this flock. The
14 May 2016
Flamingo projects 2016 part 1.
We have a new set of MSc students at WWT Slimbridge this spring and summer who are investigating the behaviour of the flamingos, and I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce them (and their projects) to you over the course of the next few diar
29 April 2016
South American adventures
Hello flamingo followers. It’s been a good couple of weeks to watch the breeding behaviour of the birds at WWT Slimbridge. All of the flocks have coloured up nicely, and with the Chilean flamingo catch now out of the way, the avics can concentrate on en
22 March 2016
Chilean flamingo catch 2016
There's been a run of flamingo catches at WWT Slimbridge over the past few years. The lessers were moved in 2012, the Andeans in 2013, the Caribbeans were caught and re-ringed in 2014, as were the massive flock of greaters in 2015. And this year it was
6 March 2016
Flirting flamingos in February
It's the month of Valentine's Day and the flamingos seem to know it! Or they might just be pleased that the rain (hello Storm Imogen?!) has gone away and they have been let out to play... There have been some very interesting courtship displays cropping u
10 February 2016