Flamingo chick hatches at Potawatomi Zoo

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – The Potawatomi Zoo announces the hatching of a flamingo chick that hatched on July 20.

This newest edition to the zoo has not had its sex determined just yet. No name has been given to the chick yet either.

The egg was laid by one flamingo of a bonded pair, Pinky and Boyfriend. Staff decided to move the egg to a different bonded pair, Marinara and Carnation, who ultimately hatched the egg.

Pink and Boyfriend laid another egg recently, and staff is waiting to see if the egg will hatch.

“Typically, flamingos need a flock of 20 or more individuals to successfully breed. Even though this is the only chick that’s successfully hatched this year, we’ve had numerous eggs laid, which is remarkable for a flock our size,” says Josh Sisk, executive director of the Potawatomi Zoo. “What’s really cool about this chick is that it was hatched by a different flamingo pair than the ones who laid it.”

The chick can be seen occasionally in the flamingo house with its foster parents. However, the chick might venture away from the nest in the next few days. Both Marinara and Carnation are sharing feeding and nesting duty.

Right now, the hatchling is fed a reddish liquid called crop milk and will for the first two months of its life. To better drink the milk, flamingo chicks are born without the “upside down” filter-feeding beak but will develop it when it gets older, according to the zoo.