Colchester Zoo's first ever flamingo chick is confirmed a boy!
In order to discover our chicks gender keepers had to collect one of his feathers to be sent off for DNA testing.
Now 6 months old the youngest member of our flock is now fully integrating with the main group having been artificially incubated as an egg to try and increase the chances of a hatchling. The chick was then hand reared by keepers to protect him from the elements to give him a greater chance of survival. During the first few weeks after hatching our chick was fed up to 5 times a day by keepers and took his first steps outside, getting a glimpse of the flamingo flock which he has now joined!
Our chick has grown dramatically in the last few months and with his beak and legs becoming fully developed he is now the same size as many of our females. His fluff has become feathers with his wings already turning pink and the rest of the feathers to follow after his first moult.
Check out the first few weeks of development as we followed the chicks progress!
Chilean Flamingos such as those at Colchester Zoo are currently listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN red list, this is largely due to egg harvesting which can cause the failure of whole colonies.
Click here to find out how you can adopt one of our Chilean flamingos