Flamenco flamingo in the middle of winter.
Although it is only the start of the year, and no where near breeding time, the flamingos at WWT Slimbridge seem to be getting in the mood to think about eggs, and chicks, and youngsters... This week, I have seen a lot of dancing, head-flagging and milling around backwards and forwards; this is the start of proper courtship behaviour that really kicks off towards spring and early summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXyNFFlZfoc
The greaters, see above, have turned a lovely shade of brighter-than-normal pink (especially on their heads and necks) and the tallest birds, probably boys, are showing off in the winter sunshine. As flamingos are not tied to a breeding season in captivity (or indeed in the wild to some extent) this behaviour is not really unusual and doesn't mean that chicks and eggs will be produced at the wrong time of year- it just means that the flock is getting itself ready for when the weather becomes warmer and they can begin to start building nests. It takes a lot of effort to raise a baby flamingo, so by displaying now everyone can be on the "same page" come the summer and (fingers crossed) sunshine! By getting in the mood now, birds are more likely to be successful at hatching eggs later on.
Even the little lesser flamingo (to be fair, a bit of sensitive flower when it comes to wintertime, often staying indoors even when it's nice outside) has been getting in on the act. These little chaps are also a wonderful bright pink and I have been watching several birds doing their wing stretches and wing salutes. Everyone needs fingers crossed for this behaviour to continue into the summer! See in the clip below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK2KRTWm7eQ
The Caribbean flamingos have been especially active, even before Christmas and as the mild winter weather so far has permitted the flocks to remain outside, instead of having to kept indoors due to ice and snow, lots of courtship display is currently to be seen in their enclosure. A short clip below of them warming up for a bit of a jig back in December is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX0UQHhFTnU
So keep an eye out for all of this flamingo goings-on during your next visit. We're very fortunate in the UK that the relatively mild winter weather (the reason why Slimbridge attracts all of those migratory Bewick's swans, white-fronted geese, wigeon, pochard and other wildfowl from colder climes) means that the flamingos can be out and about for pretty much all of the year. Spare a thought for zoos in other countries that experience more severe winter weather. The really harsh snow and ice in North America at the end of last year has caused a lot of problems for animal keepers across the pond. I have a friend who is a keeper at the Toronto Zoo in Canada and he sent me a few photos of their flamingo enclosure... needless to say their birds spend quite a lot of time inside during this extremely cold Canadian winter!
Where's my pond gone?! Deep North American snow means that Canadian flamingos need very large indoor houses as they will be kept inside to protect them from such severe winter conditions for quite some time.
