It’s been a little less than a month since these two flamingelehs hatched (one on June 27 and one on June 30), and yet look at how they’ve grown, even since my first post about them!
To give you an idea of how rapidly they’ve shot up, I’ve posted some photos in chronological order below, with the younger of the two always on the left:
7/7/10:
7/9/10:
7/13/10:
7/19-21/10:
7/22/10:
(As a side note, if the protocol for tagging is the same on fledglings as on adults, then both of the young’uns are female. But maybe they just put tags on the left legs of flamingelehs regardless of sex.)
The adults’ attitudes towards them seem to be changing, as well. They’re still protective of them—on Wednesday I saw one grab the bigger flamingeleh’s fuzzy back in its beak and pull it away from the fence where, on the other side, workers were planting bushes—but they’re a little more cavalier around them now, and they’re not as concerned about bumping into them as they engage in their frequent honking/billing squabbles. And from what desultory research I’ve done, it looks like the little flamingos will only be getting fed crop milk for another month—then they’ll have to find food for themselves (well, out of what the zoo gives them).
To give you an idea of how rapidly they’ve shot up, I’ve posted some photos in chronological order below, with the younger of the two always on the left:
7/7/10:
7/9/10:
7/13/10:
7/19-21/10:
7/22/10:
(As a side note, if the protocol for tagging is the same on fledglings as on adults, then both of the young’uns are female. But maybe they just put tags on the left legs of flamingelehs regardless of sex.)
The adults’ attitudes towards them seem to be changing, as well. They’re still protective of them—on Wednesday I saw one grab the bigger flamingeleh’s fuzzy back in its beak and pull it away from the fence where, on the other side, workers were planting bushes—but they’re a little more cavalier around them now, and they’re not as concerned about bumping into them as they engage in their frequent honking/billing squabbles. And from what desultory research I’ve done, it looks like the little flamingos will only be getting fed crop milk for another month—then they’ll have to find food for themselves (well, out of what the zoo gives them).
[the adults used to be so watchful! 7/10/2010]
They were so cute, so young, so loving!
And now? Moving into the awkward adolescent stage already, it looks like. Pretty soon they’ll be complaining about how none of the adults understand them and clamoring for later curfews and their own iPods…
And now? Moving into the awkward adolescent stage already, it looks like. Pretty soon they’ll be complaining about how none of the adults understand them and clamoring for later curfews and their own iPods…
3 comments:
If any of the flamingelehs gets an i-pod or i-pad or any "cool" e-device, I want to see the post! Then we can tell the other ones, "so, if Flamingeleh One's mother lets it jump in a lake, do you think I'm gonna let YOU?"
Young birds this age are still quite appealing in their down. It will be nice to see them when their pin feather start growing. Which of the parents teach the youngsters to fly? In lovebirds, it's always the male.
Flamingelehs! A hartzeken dank, tiereh. :) A lacht ich darf.
So genius I had to come out of lurking to exclaim "Flamingelehs" with you :)
I miss you.
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