Notable birds to look out for... the love-struck lessers.
Sunshine! It surely does make a change and for the lesser flamingos at WWT Slimbridge this has sparked a great deal of breeding activity. Lesser flamingos are very special birds. Not only are they the smallest species of flamingo, weighing as little as 1kg (that's a bag of sugar) but they are also one of the more specialised in their requirements. This specialisation in both habitat and ecological niche, as well as in their breeding behaviour, can make lesser flamingos vulnerable to environmental changes. As such, flocks in well-managed, reputable captive collections (such as the birds at WWT Slimbridge) have an important role in teaching us more about the needs of these little pink gems. The warm weather coupled with a little rain to provide plenty of oozy, sticky mud, has brought a frenzy of nest-building, displaying and mating attempts into the lesser flamingo group at Slimbridge. This flock last bred in 2011 and have proved themselves capable of producing healthy youngsters. This breeding activity is enormously helpful to the ex situ conservation of this species so fingers crossed that eggs may be laid if the warm weather continues and the birds stay "in the mood" for nest building.
If you are visiting WWT Slimbridge be sure to pass by the lesser flamingo pen (opposite "Flamingo Lagoon") and take a few moments to observe the fascinating courtship and breeding action that is currently on-going. For the keen-sited, super observant and those with binocular, birds LDD (female), LCC (male), LDX (male), LDC (female), LFY (female), LDY (male), LFC (female), LDZ (female) and LFU (male) are the birds that have been showing most attention in nest-building at present. Another interesting flamingo to keep an eye out for is BCF, the lesser flamingo chick called "Hope" who hatched in 2006. She has also shown much interest in trying to build a nest and has been sitting on one of the mud nest mounds that the avics have made, preparing it to her own liking. I have yet to see her with a boyfriend however, but fingers crossed. For a species that takes a very long time to mature, she is still very, very junior!
Here is a short clip of several birds displaying...
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And here is another clip of some of the birds listed in the text above making their own nests along the edge of one of the islands within their enclosure.
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