Being pinioned or wing-clipped doesn't preclude breeding - the very productive flocks of flamingos at Chester and Slimbridge are flight-prevented and they do very well indeed. I don't know specifically about the Smithsonian.
They'd still have to be pinioned, but it wouldn't stop them breeding if all the other conditions are right. The most important factor for flamingos seems to be flock size - the more birds, the better!
Oh, I see. Mstickmanp had mentioned the Los Angeles Zoo's flamingo flock that was kept outside hadn't reproduced at all in years and were obviously flightless (but he wasn't sure if they were wing-clipped or pinioned) while the flamingos in an aviary reproduce several times a year and could fly. That just made me assume breeding could be effected.
But that's great that if all other conditions are well the birds can still breed properly. I just asked about the open exhibit and if pinioning was needed because I never really saw flamingos like the ones at San Diego's Safari Park or Smithsonian actually flying, and their exhibits are pretty big, so that made me wonder. Are most birds (like storks, cranes and pelicans for example) pinioned or wing-clipped if not in an aviary?
Yes - pretty much without exception - storks, cranes, pelicans, waterfowl, flamingos - anything that is naturally flighted and kept in a paddock. Otherwise the birds would be unlikely to stick around!
Oh, I see. Mstickmanp had mentioned the Los Angeles Zoo's flamingo flock that was kept outside hadn't reproduced at all in years and were obviously flightless (but he wasn't sure if they were wing-clipped or pinioned) while the flamingos in an aviary reproduce several times a year and could fly. That just made me assume breeding could be effected.
But that's great that if all other conditions are well the birds can still breed properly. I just asked about the open exhibit and if pinioning was needed because I never really saw flamingos like the ones at San Diego's Safari Park or Smithsonian actually flying, and their exhibits are pretty big, so that made me wonder. Are most birds (like storks, cranes and pelicans for example) pinioned or wing-clipped if not in an aviary?
Although it may have been several years since the flamingos displayed in the outdoor lagoon in Los Angeles have reproduced, they have done so quite successfully in the past there since the exhibit first opened back in 1974; as well as in recent years. The Los Angeles Zoo even proudly proclaims that it now represents "one of the largest flocks in the world" as a result.
And the fact that we're referring to three separate species in L.A. could also factor in; the two species displayed outdoors being Caribbean and Chilean, while the indoor group are all Greater.
And the fact that we're referring to three separate species in L.A. could also factor in; the two species displayed outdoors being Caribbean and Chilean, while the indoor group are all Greater.
