Giving mum and dad the run-around
Hello flamingo-followers. There's a bumper crop of new pink birds this summer at WWT Slimbridge, and the lovely hot weather is the perfect environment for helping flamingo chicks to grow up big and strong. As these new chicks leave the nest and become more adventurous it can be hard-work for their long-suffering parents to keep tabs on them. Flamingo chicks need exercise so that they develop strong muscles and bones in their legs to support them properly when they reach full size. After all, if you're a Caribbean flamingo who might be over five feet tall when adult, you need to be steady on your feet. Mum and dad flamingo will walk their chick around the nesting area to get it practicing its first baby steps. And when the chicks are older, and taller, they will run around after each other in their crèches, so getting lots of exercise.
However, sometimes your chick might be very adventurous and have a very determined glint in its eye to explore somewhere that mum and dad are not too keen on investigating. This week there was a very confident, shall we say, Caribbean chick that gave its parents quite the run around... The short clip below shows the little family and their baby about to go for walkies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w66WhLYRvOU
Things all started off in a very content manner as Mr & Mrs Flamingo took their new youngster out for a family stroll. Dad flamingo "GSP" and mum flamingo "GSW" are also Slimbridge-reared birds themselves and both in their teens - so are fairly new to the flamingo parenting game when compared to some of the wise old birds in this flock.
So off they go on their travels in the sunshine. But the chick seems to have other ideas and starts picking up the pace, heading towards the large walnut tree in the front corner of the pen. The parents, slightly perturbed by this sudden burst of speed, follow their chick, calling as if to get him/her to slow down. You can see the raised feathers (these are called scapular feathers) on their backs, and this is a sign of an unsettled flamingo.
The chick, which I like to think was out to just really irritate mum and dad as mush as possible, disappeared into the undergrowth leaving the two adults searching around the leaves and plants to find out where it had gone. A bit like human parents trying to slow down a errant toddler, determined to go as far as its little legs can carry it, so Mr & Mrs Flamingo attempted in vain to chivvy, cajole, and shout at their small, fluffy charge to come back into view. The chick, who is having a whale of a time, vanishes into the foliage and reappears some moments later looking seemingly very pleased with itself!
"Look how fast I can run!" I love how determined the chick looks to reach pastures new. And sudden realisation of the parents of "nooooo, not that way!" See clip below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmEqaFRkWag
So with the parent flamingos looking more and more despairing, and baby off on its adventures in the undergrowth, I guess human parents everywhere can sympathise with their predicament and the trials of raising youngsters who have a mind (and a will!) of their own. Thankfully, calm is restored and the chick does eventually listen to the calls of its mum and dad, who look very much relieved at being able to extract their baby from its leafy playground. I am sure this is the first of many explorations that this, and the other, new flamingos will get up to over the summer.
A short clip below of the family reunited :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OjVUYhzDHU
