Two's company in some cases.

17 August 2012

Just a short note to highlight the strength of the relationships that can be seen between flamingos, illustrated beautifully by the Andean flamingos at WWT Slimbridge. I have mentioned two birds, JAU and JAY, before as an example of a pair of flamingos to look out for, who can be seen together pretty much all of the time and will mirror each other's behaviour. These two birds are nearly always in close contact - here is a photo of the two of them snoozing next to each other...

The close bond that exists between pairs of flamingos, illustrated by a sleepy pair of Andean flamingos (JAU and JAY) at WWT Slimbridge. Close proximity seems to be an important factor in noting who is friendly with whom.

So when looking at flamingo friends, is it all about personal space? Well to some extent, yes, but relationships can also be judged by looking at who is choosing to do what with whom, as well as observing those birds together in the same area of the exhibit. Birds in a flock will be making choices of where to go and who to follow. They will not be scattered around randomly as was perhaps previously thought. These little subgroups are illustrated below...

A little "break-away" group of Andean flamingos using the area around the public benches in the South American Pen. This highlights the different types of relationship seen in the flock as a whole.

And to finish, here is a short clip of JAU and JAY walking together in an area of their exhibit not often frequented by the flamingos. I found them mooching about here and there far away from the other birds in the flock. These two birds are seen together too frequently for it to be coincidental; hence they are termed preferred partners.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hHT5eNuLY&feature=g-upl']