Tickled pink! Pair of flamingos are seen doting over their chicks
A pair of flamingos have been photographed lavishing attention on their newly hatched chicks, offering a rare intimate glimpse of the birds' parenting behaviour. Flamingo pairs typically share incubation and feeding duties, and images showing both parents doting on their young highlight the strong bonds the species forms during breeding.
The photographs capture the adult flamingos tending closely to their chicks, which are notably grey and fluffy rather than pink, as young flamingos only develop their distinctive colouring later through their diet. Flamingos are known for forming close-knit colonies and sharing parental responsibilities, with both mother and father typically taking turns caring for their offspring in the early weeks after hatching.
- Flamingo parents photographed doting on their newly hatched chicks
- Chicks are born grey, not pink, gaining colour later
- Both flamingo parents typically share caring duties
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Flamingos are social birds that gather in large colonies, where many pairs breed at the same time. Both parents usually take turns keeping their eggs warm and caring for their chicks after they hatch.
Newly hatched flamingos are grey and fluffy, rather than pink. Their familiar colour develops as they grow, from pigments in the food they eat. Seeing both parents care for their young offers a glimpse of how flamingo pairs share the work of raising chicks.