The Flamingo

THE flamingo is a large, brilliantly coloured aquatic bird with legs that look like stilts. It grows to a height of 1-2 metres.

The bird has pink, red and black feathers. The pink feathers fade and become a dull grey if it is not able to feed on shrimps and algae. The carotene in these is responsible for giving their feathers the pink colour. Hence in zoos and bird sanctuaries, flamingos are fed on carrot juice.

The flamingo feeds in a unique manner. It wades into the sea waters and turns its head upside down so that its curved bill scoops up the muddy water containing tiny living creatures. Special filters inside the bill then sieve out its food. All unwanted matter is thrown out.

Flamingos live, feed and breed in large groups or colonies. Some colonies contain as many as a thousand birds. They build conical nests, 15.46 cm high, which are hollow on top. The eggs are laid around the same time.

The bird lays its egg in the hollow, after which both parents take turns in incubating it. It takes 28 days for the egg to hatch.

The newly-hatched chick is clad in a soft, silky, grey down. Its legs are soft and swollen and bright red in colour. Its beak is straight.

For the first few days, the chick is fed in the nest itself. When its legs grow stronger, it hops out of the nest to join other chicks but returns to the nest at feeding time as its food is the fluid that is produced in the digestive system of its parents.

After two months, the feathers grow and the beak gets curved and the chick is able to feed itself.

All large birds and meat-eating mammals are a flamingo’s predators. Its weak legs and fragile bones make it defenceless. The flamingo is terrified of Marabou storks and a single Marabou walking along the shore is sufficient to put tens of thousands of them to flight.

Flamingos live in hot dry regions near saline lakes, marshes and seas. The Rann of Kutch is the only place in India where flamingos gather to breed.