Three flamingo chicks have recently hatched at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, marking a notable increase in the zoo’s American flamingo flock. The chicks are currently being hand-raised by the BioPark’s bird care team, who are monitoring their development closely.
“The chicks are doing great, and our staff is so dedicated,” said Karen Waterfall, curator of birds at the BioPark. “Our care team has been hand-raising the chicks and monitoring them closely to help them meet their developmental milestones.”
This year’s trio is significant for the zoo. Last year saw only one chick hatch—named Ziggy—and before that, there had not been a successful hatching since 2014. Waterfall noted, “Before Ziggy, the last one that hatched here was in 2014. We had had maybe a couple eggs in between there, but nothing that was fertile. We’ve not been through this before, so we’re just so excited.”
The gender of the new chicks will be determined with blood tests scheduled about a month from now as their current appearance does not reveal whether they are male or female.
To ensure safety during incubation, eggs were moved from Flamingo Island to an incubator behind the scenes; decoy eggs were left on Flamingo Island in their place. The first chick hatched on July 11, followed by two more on July 30 and August 6.
Waterfall described how age differences affect interactions among the chicks: “The oldest one is quite a bit bigger, but the other two are closer in age. They’re about a week apart, so we’re trying to get them to be friends right now so they can grow up together.”
The care team began feeding formula to the newly hatched birds before gradually introducing pellets into their diet. After about a week, staff started taking them outside for brief periods of sun exposure and exercise.
“Exercise is extremely important to make sure those long legs develop properly,” said Waterfall. “The younger ones are going out once a day right now. The older chick is going out twice a day for walks, and in the afternoon he goes out with the other flamingos to get introduced to the pool.”
Zoo visitors can see these young flamingos during daily walks at around 11:15 am near the wattled crane habitat in Africa; cranes are kept separately during this time. The oldest chick can also be seen at Flamingo Island around 1:30 pm each day.
For now, all three remain indoors except for these outings as they continue growing and adapting; Waterfall expects that by mid-October, the oldest will join Flamingo Island full-time with his younger companions following soon after.
