Our group of Chilean Flamingos are prolific breeders and we have a very successful breeding group at the Park. We have been getting around 18 healthy chicks per season , perfectly hatched and in good health.
Chilean Flamingos breed in colonies and after courtship rituals of synchronized dancing, preening, neck stretching and honking they mate during April and May.
They produce one chalky white egg that is laid on a mud mound . Both parents incubate the egg which takes 27 - 31 days to hatch. They will defend their nest during the breeding season, otherwise they are non-territorial.
After the chick first hatches they are fed a substance called "crop milk" which comes from the parents' upper digestive tract. Either parent can feed the chick this way and other flamingos can act as foster feeders. When the chicks are old enough to walk they gather together in creches that are watched over by a few adult birds. By the time young flamingos reach 3 - 5 years of age they will have reached sexual maturity and gained their full adult plumage.
No comments:
Post a Comment