Staff at Paradise Park are thrilled at the hatching of their first Caribbean Flamingo chick!

Director Alison Hales commented, “We love our flamingo group, and were delighted when two eggs were laid this summer. However one egg was infertile and then the second pair stopped incubating about a week too early. Keepers decided to put the egg in an incubator, not knowing if it would hatch, but within days the egg started chirping! The chick hatched successfully on 19th August – it’s early days but, so far, it’s growing well on two-hourly feeds of a special ‘fish soup’ prepared by Keeper Becky.”

Photo Credits: Paradise Park

Keeper Becky Waite explained, “We are so excited to have a Caribbean Flamingo chick. Our flock was very small until last summer, when five arrived from Slimbridge Wetland Centre. With a bigger flock size, we were in a stronger position to achieve breeding success. One pair did lay an egg earlier in the summer, which sadly was not fertile. But this did trigger the flock to build nests. The shallow pond area is an ideal location as the mud is the perfect building material.”

Becky continued, “Both parents were hatched at Chester Zoo in July 2002, so are 17-years-old. They came to Paradise Park in 2004. This egg was laid on 20th July and hatched on 19th August, so took 31 days to incubate. Due to the parents having stopped incubating the egg a few days before it was due to hatch, we stepped in and put the egg in an incubator. For the first few days, I am feeding the chick every two hours between 6am and 10pm.”

Flamingos form strong pair bonds, and just one egg is laid, with both male and female feeding the chick on a special ‘crop milk’. They are long-lived birds that can reach the age of 40, and are able to breed starting from age six.

Paradise Park would like visitors to note that, at this time, the chick is not on display.

Check with Paradise Park’s website for ‘Flamingo Chick Updates’: www.paradisepark.org.uk/flamingo-chick-update/  

More adorable pics below the fold!