Are flamingos pink when they hatch? SeaWorld welcomes eight chicks

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — SeaWorld San Diego announced this week that the park has welcomed eight baby flamingos. They can be seen while visiting the flamingo exhibit area.

In celebration of the new additions, flamingo-themed food and drinks will be available June 21 through June 23. This includes flamingo-themed cupcakes at various restaurants, as well as the new Flamingo Fizz cocktail at Underwater Cantina.

Plus, parkgoers who wears pink will receive a 10% discount at Manta Gifts.

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Egg hatching explained

To prepare for the arrival of their offspring, flamingo pairs create a mud mound that’s used as a nest, park officials explained. From there, the mother most often lays a single egg.

The next few weeks, or roughly 28 days, the flamingo parents will carefully sit on their nest to keep the egg warm. This process is known as the incubation period.

When the baby flamingos break out of their shells, it may come as a surprise to some that they aren’t actually pink when born. Each flaminglet arrives with white or gray downy feathers. They also have straight bills at first.

As explained by wildlife experts, it can take several years for young flamingos to transform into the signature pink hue that most imagine when thinking of the wading birds.

Why are flamingos pink?

According to Smithsonian’s National Zoo, flamingos develop their color based on their diet. In this case, the saying “you are what you eat” holds true. This is thanks to a pigments known as carotenoids, which are produced in many plants.

“Carotenoids give carrots their orange color or turn ripe tomatoes red. They are also found in the microscopic algae that brine shrimp eat. As a flamingo dines on algae and brine shrimp, its body metabolizes the pigments — turning its feathers pink,” the zoo explained.

Another interesting fact when it comes to their pink coloring, parent flamingos can actually fade in color while raising their chicks. This is due to the fact that they are providing much of their food to their chicks. Once their offspring is self-sufficient, that pink color returns.

More information about flamingo development can be found here.

With a few more baby flamingos expected to hatch this season, SeaWorld San Diego officials said the park is now home to a flamboyance of 190 adult American flamingos.

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