The chicks are still grey. When they eventually eat algae and crabs, their feathers turn pink Photo: Olaf Wagner
By Johannes Malinowski
They don’t look quite as proud and colorful as their conspecifics. The joy at Hardenbergplatz is still huge.
The Lesser Flamingos have finally had offspring again for eight years. Two fluffy chicks recently left their breeding mound.
“In the first few weeks they are fed with so-called crop milk,” says the zoo. These are protein and fat-rich energy bombs that both parents produce in the upper digestive tract.
This is how flamingos are more commonly known: pink to bright pink Photo: Olaf Wagner
You can visit the young birds at the Pheasantry, where the Lesser Flamingos live alongside the Andean and James Flamingos. Two other pairs are currently breeding there.
By the way, it will take a while before the young animals get their pink color. Flamingos eat algae and crabs. They contain carotenoids, which are responsible for the coloring of the feathers.
