WEBVTT - Flamingo Fact or Fiction? 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:08.560 Ruby. 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.200 Hi, I'm Rich Schwartz, but don't see this world. 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.600 I'm Marco Wentt and this. 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:16.160 Is Amazing Wildlife, a podcast that explores unique stories of 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.600 wildlife from around the world and uncovers fascinating animal facts. 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.000 This podcast is in production with iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio and 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.240 San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in international nonprofit conservation organization 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:29.880 which oversees the San Diego Zoo and this beautiful place, 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:31.319 the San Diego Zoom Safari Park. 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:33.320 M M. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.280 That was my hornbill here. Yeah, yeah, but you brought 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:38.960 it right to us. I really did you know? Because 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:42.080 we are at the beautiful Safari park right. Not only that, my. 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.880 Friend, we have birds behind us, a beautiful species of flamingo. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:46.800 Right. Yeah's great. 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.919 And if our listeners want to see where we are, 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.680 coming up pretty soon on YouTube, we'll be doing this 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.240 visual podcast. It's being filmed right now, so if you're 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.440 watching it, Soda, you can see us. But if you 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:59.040 listen only you might want to check it out. And 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.280 of course we'll let people yeacial media whe it's available. 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.200 Yeah, tons of things going on to so Amanda, we're 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.559 in the habitat, so don't step on any flamingo poop. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:07.640 Point about it does wash off. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:09.800 It does right, Yeah, but I'm excited. I'm excited about 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.360 the visual component. But also, friend, we have something that's 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.560 happening at the Safari Park now called Wildlife Awareness DAGE, 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.960 so certain species throughout the year that our wildlife care 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.480 staff are going to help promote support in different kind 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:21.919 of ways. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.520 What one would we want to talk about? What wildlife? 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.840 I wonder, Well, we're looking at these beautiful flamingos behind us, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.640 right and it happens to be signor International Flamingo Day 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.240 on the twenty sixth of April, that's a Saturday, and 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.160 this episode is going to air right before, so we thought, 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.000 why not top flamingos. 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.280 Right, diming, Now, do we have a flamingo line up 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:42.760 we can talk with? 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:44.840 Not a flaming We got a few behind us right now, 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:47.720 but we have someone very special I think flamingos specialists 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:48.760 that we're going to talk to you today. 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.440 Very good morning, good morning, almost as good and. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.160 Yeah, oh so excited to be here, and especially in 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:58.480 this wonderful habitat. 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.800 I love this area of the Safari Park. 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.280 Oh and our guests they can see these greater flamingos, Right, 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.360 this is a species are highlighting if they ride the 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.160 African tram, which is included in everyone's sect, which I 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.280 absolutely love about that. 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:11.799 But there's a lot to talk about about flamingos. 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.160 Right, Sometimes I think like not everyone knows what a 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.480 flamingo is, which I know sounds really funny, Aaron, But 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.320 see the person who maybe there's someone in the world 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.360 they've never even heard of a flamingo, which I know 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:22.120 is very shocking. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:24.160 Well, wait, the other part of it too, might be 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:25.560 the only interaction you've ever heard of. 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:27.640 The flamingo is a plastic one on someone's long. 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:28.920 Yeah, which is not accurate. 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.239 So, yeah, tell us what's a flamingo. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:37.799 Well, the plastic ones are, They're pretty close. Depends on 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.600 the type of flamingo you're thinking of. So the ones 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.560 that you would normally see as a lawn ornament. 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:44.600 Are very very bright pink. 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.480 But the flamingos that we're looking at just behind us 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.040 are greater flamingos, and they're. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.560 A lot lighter in color and much bigger than a 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:53.280 lawn ornament. 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:58.160 So flamingos are long legged, very tall, often pink birds 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.799 some shade of pink and the greater flamingos that we're 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.600 looking at behind us are actually the largest species. 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.240 Of flamingo in the world. The greater they are the greatest. 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:10.080 There's a lot of different species. 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.640 You mentioned the species here, but you also mentioned that 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:14.760 the lawn armed ones. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:15.320 Are very pink. 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:17.320 That's right, and there are some species that are very pink, 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:19.040 But ours behind us right now aren't. 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:20.480 Why is that. 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:21.440 Not quite as pink? 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.840 So this is a question that actually does come up 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.000 quite a bit for our guests that do see the 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.639 species of flamingo as they're riding our tram. All flamingos, 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.480 depending on the species, they metabolize the food that they're 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.080 eating a little bit differently, and that is what determines 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.800 the pigment and the pink in their feathers. So an 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.440 interesting fact is there are six different species of flamingos. Oh. 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:44.760 You can see a couple. 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.200 Of them here at the Safari Park and also at 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.560 the San Diego Zoo, all different, but all fed the 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:52.760 exact same diet, so they get fed the exact same thing. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.320 So if you see the Caribbean flamingos of the San 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.360 Diego Zoo, they're much pink er. The very very pink, 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:00.320 and those are the ones that I think the laments 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:06.880 are at ornament, but they get fed the exact same thing. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.720 So it just depends on the species of flamingo, where 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:13.760 they're found, where they live naturally, and how they metabolize 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:14.320 the food. 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:14.440 That they eat. 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.760 And some people will say that it is shrimp that 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.440 makes them pink, but that might condrupt the idea of 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.520 shrimp we would get at a restaurant shrimp cocktail. 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:29.640 They're not eating shrimp cocktail, shrimp Mark Brian shrimp, so 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:34.880 really small microscopic organisms and also algae, which is also 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.920 something that the shrimp are feeding on. So really, if 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.840 you're going to get super technical, the flamingos are turning 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.119 pink because of the algae that they're eating. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:45.840 That's interesting. And I also like you mentioned a few 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:46.640 species already. 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.640 I mean, one of my favorite from lingo facts is 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.039 they look like a delicate animal, but they live in 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.560 some of these hard, sometimes even caustic kind of environments 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.880 depending on the species. Maybe a lot of salt in 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.800 the water make it very difficult for other animals to survive. 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:01.760 And we mentioned a few, but maybe we should highlight 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.400 all all those six right, six species of flamingo. 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.479 Right, we said, let's say I'm gonna try this. 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.719 Okay, we said the Andean flamingo, right, we said the 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.000 James or the Puna flamingo more locally known, right, the 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.159 Chilean flamingo. Well, you mentioned the Carribean flamingo, which in 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.040 the States you could see maybe in the Gulf of Mexico. 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.479 We have the lesser flamingo in Africa, and the one 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:25.440 behind us is the greater flamingo. All right, but all 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.440 unique in their own ecosystem, right, but the same kind 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.880 of adaptations, right for the way they eat. You mentioned 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.280 the color of the feathers, but that beak is really 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:33.760 unique too. 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:35.800 Can you talk a little about the flamingo beak? 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.440 And speaking of the beak and how they eat, some 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.960 people mention to notice that it looks like their beak is bent, 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.919 not hooked like an eagle or an owls beak, but 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.000 it's got sort of this weird bend to it. And 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.080 also the upper part of the beak is thinner than the. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.120 Lower part, where we usually think upside down. 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.080 Yeah, yeah, helpe explain why that adaptation. 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.680 Exists because of the food that they eat, so they're 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:01.680 actually filter feeders. So when the mingos are feeding, and 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.960 we may get no, they're all sleeping, so bring. 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:06.520 Our voices down there. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:09.880 But if they are awake and they're feeding, their heads 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.440 are upside down really, so they're going to filter through 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.680 the water to eat those really small organisms. And as 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.040 they're taking in all of that water, they're actually squeezing 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.800 the water out the sides, so the sides of their 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.559 beaks are they look serrated like they're filtered on the side, 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.159 so they're squeezing the water out and then just taking 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:28.640 in the food that they're consuming. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.440 For kids that are listening, kind of reminds of like 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:35.240 balen whales, right, yeah, back pushing all this fluid ocean 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:37.320 water for them, you know, and capturing all those little 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.479 microbes as a little yummy little items for them to 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:41.200 survive out there. 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:41.400 You know. 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:42.680 Yes, you'll actually see them out there. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:44.360 It looks like they're dancing because they'll move their feet 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.840 back and forth really really fast too to kind of 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.000 stir up all that good stuff. And then you'll see 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:50.119 them filtering through the water. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.520 And that actually kind of steps us into my next question. 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:59.039 Nice their feet stepping up and down. Often I will 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.520 hear people when they look at from and gooes they wonder, 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.000 why is their knee bending backwards? Because from the visual 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.120 the foot is down flat, and then you have a 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.400 part of the leg coming up and the joint moves 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.120 equivalently backwards to a knee that we're used to seeing, correct, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:15.920 and then the leg goes up into the body. And 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:17.760 that's it as far as we can visually see on 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.760 the outside. But anatomically, that's not actually their knee, right, 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:21.400 It's not. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.800 Their knee, it's their ankle, their ankle, it's their ankles. 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.160 So their knees actually located a little bit higher up, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:30.080 which does bend the quote unquote correct way. Yeah, so 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.760 that joint is actually their ankle joint. So when they 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.720 are standing and often on one leg, Yeah, a lot 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:38.840 of them are sleeping out there. 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.640 Right now, explain that, you know, because that's that's here, right, 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:42.960 the locking like that what is? 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.440 Yeah, that joint actually kind of really kind of locks 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.640 into place when they're sleeping, so they're not tipping over. 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.840 They look pretty sturdy right now. I gotta say, yeah, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:52.320 that's great. 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.720 Yeah, And often people do ask quite a bit why 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.840 they stand on one leg, and there's a few ideas 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:01.720 or theories, but really it's primary comfort and we do 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:03.960 it too. You don't really notice it unless you point 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:05.560 it out, but if you're ever standing somewhere for long 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.640 periods of time, you tend to kind of like lean 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.080 on one leg and take a pressure off one leg. Ye, 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.360 And that's really what they're doing. So for comfort, they'll 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.640 pull a leg up, and then they also use it 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.800 sometimes regulate their body temperature, so you'll see them kind 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.520 of alternating those legs. So these guys are found in 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.080 very warm weather, but the andy and Flamingos are found 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.120 in very very cold weather, so they will pull one 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:27.720 leg up and they can keep it nice warm, and 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:29.040 they can alternate back and forth. 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.080 Well, you brought that up because it's an interesting fact 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.280 that the andy and Flamingos sometimes they'll live in a 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.960 high altitude lakes as an example, and the water can 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.440 freeze over, so they're actually a little water lock for 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:39.920 a hot and in the morning, so they need to 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.560 get the sun come out and melt away that frozen water. 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:42.840 There. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.800 I love the idea of just again this hard environment 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.160 and you see life just flourishing like that. 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:49.240 You know, it's really great. 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.960 Sure, really cold environments are really really tough bird, so 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:53.959 really cold environments they can be found in. And then 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:57.280 the African species, the lesser flamingo, which is not less 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.800 than but the smallest flamingo in the world. And then 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:03.040 the eight or flamingos are found in really hot, really dry, 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.160 very sunny environments. Yeah, so really tough on the other 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:07.360 end of the spectrum. 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:08.640 You know. 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.839 I was thinking the other day, because everyone knows about it, 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.640 if you haven't heard, there are these bald eagles out 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.000 in Big Bear, right, And I love this shot because 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.040 it really highlights a big, beautiful raptor nest, like you know, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:19.600 eagles and hawks and falcons. 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:20.920 Like really unique stick kind of nests. 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:22.560 But can you talk a little bit, because I'm sure 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.800 a lot of guests aren't familiar what makes a flamingo 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:26.880 nest so unique, why it looks the way it does, 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:28.240 and why they do what they do. 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:33.160 Sure. Yeah, Flamingos build really really interesting nests, and they 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.360 kind of look like little mini volcanoes. So there are 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.760 mud nests that they build, and they build them up 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.920 really really high, and it's interesting because they start low obviously, 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:43.800 and they're sitting on the ground of what they've started 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.600 with these nests, and then they're slowly pulling mud underneath 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.640 them and building it beneath their bodies and raising it 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.840 up off the ground until they get it to their 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.599 desired height and then it kind of bowls out. So 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.320 that's where it kind of looks like a volcano for 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.200 that one single egg to sit. And the reason they 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.560 do that is because they do nest and live in 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.240 areas that flood and the water can Yeah, the water 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.600 can rise very quickly, and they're doing that to protect 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.240 their eggs and eventually their newly hatched chicks up out 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:14.679 of the water. 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.199 I remember when I was working at Sandygo Zoo, the 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.800 swimingos right out front. A lot of people be always 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:21.440 you know, why do the keepers build all those mounds 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:22.160 and keepers? 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.920 They look so uniform and so nicely done. 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.760 I think, to Marco's point about the bald eagle nest, 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:30.880 it's a lot of sticks. It looks very nest like 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.679 is climate cluttered together, But there is some thought process 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.800 there on their part, whereas these flamingo volcanoes look so 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.080 uniform and perfect. 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.360 So it's kind of fascinating to think that they build those, 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:41.000 they make those. 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.840 Yeah, it's not us if I was responsible for doing that. 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:44.720 They would not look. 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:48.920 Like the movie that goes I have my moment. 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.120 We will sometimes encourage them. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.040 We'll see that they're getting ready to start, so we 0:10:55.080 --> 0:11:00.640 will sometimes make very small little areas, but they yeah, 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.400 they'll take it upon themselves to finish it. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.679 When you said that, it instantly made me think of 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.520 a flamingo parade, the flamboyants of flamingos. Right, can you 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.520 talk a little bit about flagging or what kind of 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.720 the precursors of what you see prior to Oh, they're 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:16.680 about to lay, but something happens right before all that? 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.800 Right that people get a big kick out of it. 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:20.840 They love it. I love it. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.480 It never gets boring to watch those breeding behaviors. So 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.120 as they're kind of gearing up for a breeding season, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.160 they will start marching. So it looks kind of like 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.560 a very choreographed dance. So they all get together in 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.440 a very large group. The flagging is their heads, so 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.280 they're swinging their heads back and forth very quickly, and 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.560 they're marching together, just in one large group, back and forth, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.000 and that is usually our indicator that they're starting. So 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.440 the African species of flamingos are greater flamingos the lesser flamingos. 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:55.920 They're keten with the weather, so they nest during the summer, 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.120 so late spring, early summer, very very hot weather. So 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.400 we get a really nice hot sunny day, which we 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.240 definitely get at the Safari Park. We'll start to see 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:06.520 the flamingos get very excited and I'll start to do 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:07.880 that marching and flagging. 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.200 So when they do that marching and flagging, is there 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:11.720 also like vocalizations ago with that? 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:16.199 Are they chattery very noisy, very very noisy. 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:17.679 Yeah. Yeah, it's a whole production. 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.320 And you can definitely not be in the area and 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:21.600 you will hear it and. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.640 You know that it's happening. You will run over. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.240 To see it totally. I mean you'll even see like 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.600 the little youngsters doing it together. Even that's you need 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.560 to one. Like they're super colonial species. I mean there's 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.480 tons of them in a flock, thousands even at some point. 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.400 And it's really unique for me too that they can 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.080 identify their young and amongst this whole flamboy. 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:40.679 Is going in front of them. 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.000 But also I forget the word there's a word for 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.880 I believe it's crashing, right, Can you. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.160 Say what is that? What does that signify? That word? 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.920 So the whole process, the whole spectacle, from start to finish, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.080 is so impressive and really one of my favorite things 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.240 about flamingos is what incredible parents they are. So from 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.880 start to finish, it's the males and females that are 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.160 involved in all of this. They're both building that nest, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.280 they're both incubating and taking care of the egg. They're 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.200 both participating and feeding the chicks. And then yeah, once 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.360 the chicks have moved off the mounds, they tend to 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.240 all get together into a group, which is called a crush. 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:18.200 So all of the. 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.000 Little baby flamingos tend to all stick together. But what 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.320 is so incredible to see, and I have no idea 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.680 how they do it, but those little chicks will vocalize, 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.559 they sound exactly the same to me, and you will 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.440 see the parents' heads pop up immediately and the parents 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:36.160 will come straight to that one individual little baby to 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:36.920 feed the babies. 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:38.600 So it's a really cool, cool thing. 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.679 Oh yeah, flamingos are always like for me, like knocking 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.839 down those gender norms one, you know, like the males 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.000 and the females are all doing together. We even have 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:46.800 evidence in the pastor at the Safari Park and in 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:48.800 the wild the same sex pairs as well. It could 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.640 be two males two females, but also again speaks to 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:53.880 that societal aspect of this kind of bird. Right, so 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.480 sometimes ones without babies are fostering or taking care of others, right. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.439 How that happen here at the partners. 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.400 That happened here, we've had it happen with. 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:03.480 I think we've seen it in all of the species 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.640 of things that we've had here at the park. More recently, 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.360 it was our lesser flamingos, So we did have a 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:12.200 pair of males that were showing a lot of interest 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.559 in a nest. They built a mound, a nestsound together. 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.240 They obviously did not lay an egg, but they were 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.040 showing a lot of interest. And we do occasionally see 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.520 a problem with our male pairings out there because they 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.920 aren't going to lay an egg, but the drive is 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:29.960 so strong for them to take care of an egg. 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.640 They will sometimes try to steal an egg from another 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.560 pair because they're communal nesters and they all nest really 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.720 close together for safety and that's how they feel comfortable. 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.400 But it also does cause some disagreement sometimes so in 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.440 order for us to try to keep the peace among everybody, 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:47.920 And they did give them a fake egg to sit 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:49.560 on just to see how they would do. They went 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.400 straight to it. They both were incubating it. They were 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.320 doing a fantastic job. And so we had the idea 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.120 because obviously we want to increase the numbers of chicks 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.160 that we can produce here whenever possible. So we were 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.640 actually able to take a fertile egg from another pair, 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.760 prolific pair, an established pair that can lay multiple furtle 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:09.440 eggs in a year. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:11.120 So we took that egg from them. 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.040 Gave it to our pair of boys, and they took 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.960 that egg, They hatched the chick, they did everything. And 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.920 then that other pair that we took the egg from, 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.520 if an egg disappears or doesn't hatch naturally in the wild, 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:24.440 they will often lay a second egg. So that pair 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.840 did lay a second egg. They were able to produce 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:28.960 another fertile egg. So from that pair. 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:30.760 We actually got two checks, very similar to what we 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.960 have done in the past with California condors, treating a 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.080 double clutch situation where we take that first egg put 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:35.760 an incubator. 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:37.920 They then instinctively lay another egg. 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.400 Which normally it's one egg per year for them, very 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:42.960 very similar concept and bolstering up the population. 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:43.600 That's so awesome. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.360 Yeah, I love that story too. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.760 You had mentioned in the crash right the babies, Okay, 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.320 one will stick its head up and call and the 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:54.480 parents know running over to feed it. Talk about the 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.520 feeding because it's something that can be startling for some 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:00.360 people when the crop milk, which isn't true milk, when 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.800 the parents are feeding a baby, sometimes it can be 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:04.360 concerning it first if you don't know what you're looking 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:04.560 at it. 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:07.400 We do get questions about that as well. Because the color, 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.200 the colors, the color is a little alarming. It is bright, 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:12.240 bright red. 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.800 And this is what also is so interesting and what 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.440 allows two males to raise a chick together is that 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.640 males and females because the parenting duties are fifty to fifty. 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.280 The males also produce that crop milk. So these two 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.920 boys that fostered this egg fed that chick without a problem. 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.800 But yes, the color of the crop milk and it 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.000 is just a secretion from their crop. 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:38.760 But it's very very in the upper part the es. 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.920 The flamingos will actually digest their food, so they secrete 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.960 this milk and they will kind of dribble it onto 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.200 the chicks, and it does look alarming. 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:58.920 Horror film maybe sometimes, and it maybe doesn't give the 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.080 exact look alarming if you don't know well. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.880 And then for anyone who's raised a human baby, they're 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.760 basically crying. So the babies are screaming for attention from 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.879 their parents, So the vocalizations very very loud. 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:14.919 They're vocalizing the whole time they're. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:19.639 Being fed, so you have to just like dramatically yelling baby. 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.080 And we do get concerns sometimes that their beaks are 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:26.480 actually stuck together, but the parent has the beak directly 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.120 at the tip of the baby, so the whole thing 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:33.760 is quite a spectacle that needs to sometimes be explained. 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.040