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
New bus service launching this summer, with access to WWT Slimbridge. Find out more.
Flamingo diary
A flamingo bedtime.
If you're at WWT Slimbridge in the late afternoon, you might be lucky enough to see the greater flamingos head to bed for the evening. In this colder time of the year, the birds have to be put away for the night in case of ice forming on their pond. The v
26 January 2016
A new year retrospective?
Happy 2016 flamingo followers! It's probably not the best way to start a new year by looking backwards but I thought I would share some lovely pictures that got posted to me just this week. I received two postcards from the 1980s (we think) and they a
8 January 2016
Home improvements = happy flamingos #2
It's nearly the festive season flamingo followers! And I hope that you are all ready for the main event. The mild weather (I really want some snow! Does anyone else?!) means that the birds have not been put to bed as much as normal, nor are having to be s
19 December 2015
Two for the price of one! Ducks and flamingos come together...
Hello lovely Flamingo Diary followers! As a treat for you all, a joint effort from Slimbridge's very own Duckery expert Phoebe (who write the Duck Diary) and me, looking at a comparison of the ducks and flamingos found in WWT's bird collections. Read all
15 November 2015
Home improvements = happy flamingos #1
Hello all, the first of two posts about the work that the avics do at WWT to keep the flamingos fit, happy and healthy. In the pink you might say! This first instalment starts at the end of summer. I am sharing it now because of other changes th
24 October 2015
What's been researching at Slimbridge this year...?
In this post I thought I would do a "research round-up" about the pink bird studies from 2015. WWT Slimbridge has hosted several MSc students over the course of the academic year just gone, two of which were studying flamingos specifically. Also I was i
6 October 2015
Turning pink(er) gradually.
On your next visit to WWT Slimbridge, take a few moments to stand and watch the different flamingo chicks that are in and around some of the pens. The chicks are growing up fast and they are starting to get the odd splash of pink. This time next year they
23 September 2015
Has Mr James found a friend...?!
Everyone's favourite Slimbridge flamingo seems to have mellowed in his old(er) age and may have found a new found sociable side. Mr James is well-known for his rather belligerent temper and he doesn't stand any nonsense from any young upstarts that might
7 September 2015
Pink birds Down Under and an August update
It's been a few weeks since my last flamingo diary post as I attended an international behavioural ecology conference in deepest, darkest Queensland, Australia. I was very lucky to have received a "merit award" from the University of Exeter last year and
25 August 2015
Flamingo feeding habits
I thought I would write a diary post moving away from breeding for a change and instead talk about a flamingo's behavioural ecology. Behavioural ecology is our understanding of why animals are evolved to do specific things, and how the specific things tha
29 July 2015
A brief baby update... and something made of bricks?!
So many new flamingos to see! If you haven't seen the wonderful film explaining all about this year's breeding success at WWT Slimbridge then you are missing out! Expertly narrated by Avicultural Manager, Mark, it's all you need to know about why WWT's
20 July 2015
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 mor
5 July 2015
End of June flamingo update
As we approach the end of June, breeding behaviour and baby birds are in full swing in some of the flamingo flocks at WWT Slimbridge. Here is an update on what is happening at present. If you are a regular visitor, you'll notice that new, fresh sand has
23 June 2015
Baby boom in Flamingo Lagoon!
There are currently several grey fluffy bundles wandering around the nesting areas in Flamingo Lagoon, and many more either hatching or about to hatch under protective parents. The nesting colony of greater flamingos is quite obliging in that some of them
5 June 2015
The new lessers are go!
You may remember that back in the autumn of 2014 I wrote about five new lesser flamingos that had joined the WWT Slimbridge flock from a zoo that had recently closed down. These birds have settled in well over the past few months and, although quiet and o
27 May 2015