UK Flamingo Husbandry

B

Bele

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Thought I would start a new thread as I find this very interesting and the discussion has all been on the Blackbrook news so far .

I would like to see more collections keep their flamingos in aviaries . Flamingo Park on the Isle of Wight has been breeding Chileans for years in a big flock , I think some Caribbean from a small flock , though not their Lessers . More recently Longleat and Edinburgh have done very well breeding in their large aviaries . I think I read that Paignton have something similar planned , they need it to keep the flocks of gulls away .

I guess Chileans are one of the hardier species , given their origin , so could probably be kept outside for most of the year . I suppose getting a flock used to going calmly inside every night during winter could be less stressful than having to chase them in on the odd cold night , with the risk of injuries . I do hate to see tiny night sheds - Manor House being another example of this .

Am I right in thinking that the big flock of Chileans at Slimbridge have not bred for some time - if so anyone know why ?
 
I totally agree with you!! Flamingos need their primary feathers keeping!! I have just watched the crimson wing which has a scene where a pair of lesser are mating and the males really need their wings to balance.It clear to me also that flamingos who can fly a little breed far more often and better.I know the Andeans at slimbridge have noy bred for ages and they are clipped but berlins flock that are smaller but have their wings full breed far more often,that said WWT have done wonders with flamingos and improved flamingo keeping greatly.
 
Interesting that WWT now seem to keep most of their breeding stock of ducks and geese in aviaries off-show at Slimbridge , but seem averse to using on-show aviaries - I can only think of the Frecked duck aviary behind the Tropical House . Years ago there was a also a range of aviaries here with gems such as Musk duck in them .

I would be interested to know what the WWT thoughts on Flamingo aviaries are .
 
Sadly I have never visited Slimbridge so can't really comment,but I think they need to consider doing some thing major with the last flock of andeans in the country to try and get them to nest or we will soon have non at all but I'm sure they have tried to do various things.
I wonder what the trick they have at hillside is to get their lessers to breed so well,I don't think the lessers have bred since the 2 hatched a few years ago at slimbridge.
Their is am amazing avairy somewhere that I have seen that houses carribeans and they breed very well some where exotic I will try and find the photo!

I think If I was incharge of lesser flamingos I would drain their water area to replicate what happens to their lake in the wild then fill them back up creating an island in the middle,also I would play the breeding calls of wild lesser flamingos or a captive breeding flock as flamingos copy one another via signals and calls I think little flocks often forget what to do!
 
arthurparkinson said:
I think If I was incharge of lesser flamingos I would drain their water area to replicate what happens to their lake in the wild then fill them back up creating an island in the middle,also I would play the breeding calls of wild lesser flamingos or a captive breeding flock as flamingos copy one another via signals and calls I think little flocks often forget what to do!
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Certainly some interesting suggestions. I would advocate a nationwide or EEP census and evaluation which zoos under which conditions have bred flamingos well and which have done not so well or not at all well. With the Balian Act in place we really do need to get our house in order on breeding flamingos.

Also, I would like to see a focus on the more endangered forms, incl. lesser and the Andeans and James's. I would hope WWT would relocate their birds to an off-show breeding aviary or even outside the UK to Zoo Berlin.
 
just out of interest, are Slimbridge's flamingoes wing-clipped or pinioned?
 
I had a check of the latest ISIS listings of UK flamingos . Chileans are the most numerous . Collections listed with numbers shown -

With 2010 births shown in brackets -

Banham 22.22.2(2)
Chester 12.20.73(9)
Dublin 41.34.7(7) -not strictly UK but in BIAZA
Paignton 17.19.14(4)

Believed to have bred in 2010 , not listed as such on ISIS -

Edinburgh 20.14
Longleat 43
Flamingo Park IOW 51

Collections I believe to have bred in recent years -

Drusillas 5.5.2
Cotswold WP 21.27
Jersey 24.29
Flamingo Land , Malton 20.18
Slimbridge WWT 8.7.105
Washington WWT 20.22.1
Martin Mere WWT 61

Other holders -

Curraghs IOM 2.3.18
Belfast 9.6
Birdland , Bourton on Water 4.5.3
Colchester 9.6
Colwyn Bay 5.5.6
Dudley 0.2
Fota 4.3
Leeds - Harewood 10.6.2
Twycross 11.15
Drayton Manor 6.5
Manor House 5.0

From Zootierliste , numbers not known -

Trotters World of Animals
Amazona Zoo , Cromer
Paultons Park
Birdworld , farnham
Skegness Natureland

I am not certain about the breedings , does anyone know differently , if so I will edit the list . Will also list other species .
 
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Flamingo park or seaview nature encounters have bred a few chileans this year after a few years of non-breeding,longleats flock have also bred this year I think they did very well about a dozen chicks but not certain and guess what theirs are fully winged!!
Blackpool have hand raised a carribean chick but not sure if it was from an egg from thier flock of carribeans.
 
There are probably well over 1000 Chilean flamingos in the UK !!

Greater Flamingos from ISIS -

Belfast 4.12
Blackbrook 25
Birdland B. on W. 8.11
Bristol 15.15
Martin Mere WWT 15.7.45
Pensthorpe 13.9
Island Amazon IOW 2.3
Jersey 15.14
Africa Alive ! 7.12
London 0.1.26
Lotherton 3.0
Marwell 14.18
Slimbridge WWT 60.65.78

Also - Paultons Park

Not many of these that I know to be breeding , certainly Bristol , London and Slimbridge , possibly Jersey and Martin Mere .

Probably 500 + Greater flamingo in the UK .
 
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London Zoo's flamingos are certainly breeding. They had two last year and at least another two this year, if not more.
 
I think some chicks that london zoo has had the 2 that did not like pink came in from another collection as eggs in fact I'm certain as their is a video on youtube where a bird keeper says they have come from another collection.
Wow 1000 chilean flamingos imagine if they were all kept as one massive flock how amazing would they look!
 
I would say we are discussing here regular and continuous breeding success. Not one-offs or unsubstantial numbers. A flock should have at least 7-15 chicks per season ... to be deemed significant and indicative of the vital ingredients for successful flamingo breeding success.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I would say we are discussing here regular and continuous breeding success. Not one-offs or unsubstantial numbers. A flock should have at least 7-15 chicks per season ... to be deemed significant and indicative of the vital ingredients for successful flamingo breeding success.
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There are very few flocks in the UK that match this - probably Chester's two groups of Chilean and American and Slimbridge's Greaters - no others come to mind immediately , Longleat have the potential but are a new flock .
 
American flamingos in the UK from ISIS -

Blackbrook 0.0.5
Blackpool 10.11.3(1) - 1 hand-reared 2010
Bourton on Water 3.3
Chester 20.13.59(8) - most consistent breeding flock
Dudley 1.1
Flamingo Park IOW 1.2.7 - I think they have bred a few
Hayle 3.3
Llanelli WWT 18.19.28 - have bred well in recent years but not 2010
Lotherton 0.0.1
London RP 0.0.1 - hand reared ?
Flamingo Land Malton 21.20
Slimbridge WWT 45.45.54 - have bred well but not certain if in recent years
South Lakes 0.0.27
Whipsnade 23.13.2 - have bred in the past

I do not know where the small flock that RSCC had have gone to , they imported some captive-bred young birds from Cuba I believe .

Slightly under 500 in the UK , lots of small groups though .
 
@Bele. Thanks for the update on Americans.

Why I am so critical on flamingo flocks is the very onus that we need to be breeding in order to maintain numbers, reducing our requirements of decreasing imports from the wild (and the Balian Directive).

We need to determine why our flamingo flocks are failing ... :cool:
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
We need to determine why our flamingo flocks are failing ... :cool:
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Flamingo husbandry is well known:
aviansag.org/Flamingo%20Husbandry%20Guidelines.pdf

How many British zoos keep single-species flock of over 40, with approximately even sex ratio, full-flighted males, in sunny environment, with suitable nesting island, without bigger waterfowl, with short-grass ground, on a pond with shallow banks and without rocks or bushes?

British zoos are on a perfect way to lose flamingos when the current birds die out, the same way as they almost lost bears and elephants. Thankfully, suitable exhibit for flamingos is a bit cheaper than for elephants. ;)
 
@Jurek I am fully aware of the basic husbandry guidelines and which factors will not induce flamingos to breed and which do. I was just commenting that those zoos currently not breeding or breeding marginally their birds - which alas seems to be the large majority - would have to look into ways to improve that significantly (also given the Balian Directive) and determine amongst themselves what factors in their zoos are sub-standard.
 
I suspect , but cannot confirm it , that no wild caught flamingos have been added to the UK flocks for quite some time . Possibly Lessers are the species to have been wild-caught most recently .

It is fortunate that flamingos are normally such long-lived birds as numbers would be on the decline otherwise . I have a 1975 published book 'Flamingos' edited by Janet Kear and Nicole Duplaix-Hall . Back then only Slimbridge ( 4 species ) and Whipsnade ( American ) in the UK had successfully bred them . I wonder how much of that stock is still present , suspect most of Slimbridge's Andeans are from that era .

It seems to me that for many years a lot of UK zoos have seen large water birds as attractive enclosure fillers rather than species to keep with care and attempt to breed . The UK record with pelicans is even worse than flamingos .
 
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