A flock of Andean flamingo ( Phoenicoparrus andinus ) at a wildlife substitute in Gloucestershire , England , have been catch all hot and bothered of recent – and they havethe summer heat waveto thank . Staff at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust ( WWT ) Slimbridge have release astatementcelebrating the good news that the bird have laid eggs for the first metre in 15 years .
“ It ’s a wonderful and welcome surprise that the Andeans have started position again after nearly two decades , ” Mark Roberts , Aviculture Manager at Slimbridge , said .
“ We ’ve been encouraging the flock by helping them to build nests but there ’s no doubt that the late heat has had the desire effect . "
All in all , six birds repose nine eggs between them . Sadly , none of these were productive . To compensate , wildlife expert switch the eggs for some lay by a stuffy congeneric of the Andean flamingo , the Chilean flamingo . This , they think , will fulfill the wench ' maternal and paternal needs while encouraging them to lay more , some of which will ( hopefully ) turn into doll .
“ It ’s great motivation and enriching for the birds , ” Roberts added .
The two specie of flamingo springy side by side in the state of nature and in several way are very similar . One of the most noticeable strong-arm differences between the two is the shape of the bill . Chilean flamingos have shallow - keeled bills ( handy for munching on worm , invertebrates , and little Pisces ) , whereas Andean flamingos have late - keeled bills ( perfect for slurping up algae , which , incidentally , is the reasonableness fortheir millennian - pinkish chromaticity ) .
Of the six species of flamingo , the Andean is the rarest with few than 40,000 remaining in the wild . They are listed as " vulnerable " on theIUCN Red List . WWT is the only spot in the world where you could see all six in one position .
The birds tend to lay one bollock at a time and the last metre the flock at WWT Slimbridge successfully spawn was back in 1999 . One of the original chicks is now nesting with a biddy of her own .
Flamingos have a very particular union dancing and incline to spawn colonially , with up to thousands of individual birds take part at any one clip . Watch their ( almost ) synchronise move in the video below .
WWT Slimbridge / YouTube
