Zoo flamingo breeding delayed by dry spring

The start of a zoo's flamingo breeding season has been delayed for the longest time on record by dry spring weather.

Blackpool Zoo said it had shipped in four tonnes of sand to encourage the birds to construct their nests but it was only since the rain had returned that they had begun building.

The nests, which are mounds made of sand and water, need to be located where they can stay wet as the flamingos continually build them throughout the incubation period.

Keepers said it was "a sight to behold" when the birds finally began nesting and once the "most confident flamingo" decides to lay an egg the rest follow.

Luke Forster from the zoo, said Caribbean flamingos were very social birds known for their "elaborate" nesting behaviours.

"They build their nests in large colonies, carefully shaping the mounds to protect their eggs, which are incubated by both and male and female birds," he said.

"Both genders also produce crop milk to feed the chicks once they have hatched and, in some cases, pairs of the same sex will take on the responsibility of incubating and raising a chick, even if the egg isn't theirs."

When the chicks hatch they will have grey-white down and a straight beak.

They develop their pink colour over a few years as they consume foods rich in the carotenoid pigments that make some plants, algae and crustaceans red, orange, pink and yellow.

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