National Aviary helps rescue flamingo chicks
When someone comes across an abandoned baby bird, the first instinct is to help it. That was the response of the wildlife specialist after a mass abandonment of flamingo chicks at the Kamfers Dam nesting site in the Northern Cape, South Africa.
But he had close to 1,800 chicks, and the need to help was urgent.
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh is playing an important role in the effort to rescue the chicks with the goal of strengthening them, raising them to maturity and releasing them to the wild.
A call was put out in early February to institutions accredited by the international Association of Zoos and Aquariums and to other wildlife conservation organizations. The rescue center, which is located near Cape Town and run by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, contacted the National Aviary directly because of its reputation for successfully raising flamingo chicks.
“Pittsburgh was one of the first zoos to respond,” said Pilar Fish, the aviary’s director of veterinary medicine.
The aviary sent avian specialist Teri Grendzinski to the facility along with medical and other veterinary supplies. Ms. Grendzinski has more than 25 years of experience with birds and has helped hand-raise multiple flamingo chicks through the years.
A rescue is “a really intense process that extends over several months,” Dr. Fish said. “A flamingo chick is one of the most challenging to rear. Each chick requires 400 syringes of a special feed daily.”
The chicks were airlifted to centers around South Africa. SANCCOB received 300, “which is a giant number,” Dr. Fish said.
A team of volunteers is making the formula from egg yolks, baby cereal, krill and fish mixed in a blender and then passed through a sieve,” Ms. Grendzinski reported last week. Her updates are posted on the aviary website, www.aviary.org.
“They’re so fragile that they have to be weighed daily to calibrate their growth. That determines how much to feed them. It can be different for each of the 300 each day,” Dr. Fish said.
“When the chicks were rescued they weighed 100 grams each. Their entire body was smaller than your clutched fist. At 2 months they grow to 2,000 grams. When first hatched their legs are 3 inches long. Their legs are 2½ feet long when full grown,” she said.
To ensure correct development of bones, joints and tendons, the birds have to exercise, which includes walking, running and swimming. They also need sunlight. Special pens are being built for them outside the facility.
They also have to be raised so that they learn to be a flamingo, she said. Protocols have been put into place to prevent the
birds from imprinting with their caregivers.
“I hand feed chicks wearing pink compression stockings on my arms to look similar to the neck of an adult flamingo,” Ms. Grendzinski wrote. “I am trying to reduce confusion for the chicks and set them up to be successfully released back into the wild when they are older.”
“Teri’s working truly mostly from early morning to late, late night,” Dr. Fish said.
Some of the chicks are too young or too ill to eat on their own, so we’re giving them intensive care,” Ms. Grendzinski posted.
“The temperature in the room is set to 86 degrees to make the chicks comfortable. It makes the chicks happy, but it definitely makes working in here harder. I am pretty much a puddle after each feeding!
“I am helping the chicks to bathe and making sure they get access to sunshine and outdoor spaces where they can exercise and stretch their legs.”
The abandonment was precipitated by sudden drought conditions near the nesting site caused by low rainfall, high temperatures and failing dam infrastructure, the aviary said in a press release.
“The eggs had just hatched,” Dr. Fish said, adding that it was the worst possible time. The adult flamingos had to leave for their own survival.
The lesser flamingo, which comprises this colony, is classified as near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The National Geographic Society defines a near threatened species as one that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for that status.
“This entire colony of flamingos lays eggs and raises young one time a year,” Dr. Fish said. A loss like this could have a great impact upon the colony.
A team of biologists will examine the original colony site and others and determine where it would be best to release the matured birds. It takes three or four months for the chicks to grow to fledgling age.
After Ms. Grendzinski returns to Pittsburgh she will continue to follow the rescue project. The aviary is inviting donations to support its role in the rescue effort.
The aviary is coincidentally holding its annual Flamingo Fest Saturday and Sunday. Visitors can learn about feeding and habitats, view the aviary’s flamingos being fed at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and take part in crafts and other activities.