Flamingos of Ardastra

The big reason for going to the zoo was to see the world famous Marching Flamingos. It really is more of a herding a flock of flightless birds with some amusing outcomes. 

The show is informative and the birds are a hoot to watch. 

In the 1950s the Bahamian government brought flamingoes with the intention of breeding, as they had become rare there. In 1982 the gardens were bought by Bahamian, Mr. Norman Solomon, who started the first Bahamian zoo. Best known for its flamingos, the zoo now has about 300 animals.

Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.

Adult American Flamingo's are smaller on average than Greater Flamingoes but are the largest flamingos in the Americas. They measure from 120 to 145 cm (47 to 57 in) tall. The males weigh an average of 2.8 kg (6.2 lb), while females average 2.2 kg (4.9 lb). Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler Greater Flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink and white with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

oops Tom and the Salmon Crested Cockatoo

some birds were always out of  formation