A young, wild Greater Flamingo has taken refuge at the Salini Bird Park over the past three days and seems to have been ‘adopted’ by one of the other flamingos in the park.
“Initially, Lesser Flamingos, which are about the same size of the juvenile Greater Flamingo, started chasing it away, but when it came again for the third consecutive time and they tried to chase it away again, a Greater Flamingo intervened and since then the young bird seems to have bonded with it,” park owner Kevin Mallia said.
Ornithologist Natalino Fenech said there was a significant passage of Greater Flamingos between August 18 and 26.
Most were seen offshore but several flocks – one of them consisting of at least 75 birds – passed quite close to the island.
Usually fewer than 500 flamingos are recorded annually, with most passing offshore in late August and September. It seems the passage took place a bit earlier than usual this year.
“At this time of year, flocks consist of adults and young birds. Evidently, some of the young ones were not strong enough to make the journey to Africa and separated from bigger flocks seeking refuge in Malta and Gozo,” Dr Fenech said.
“Some have been reported shot and several others were picked up exhausted from the sea of Xwejni, in Gozo. One landed in a football pitch at Vittoriosa. Some of these were released at Għadira Nature Reserve, from where some left and one died.”
Though big, flamingos are very delicate birds and can easily die if not handled properly and given the right food – if exhausted they would need saline and glucose before food.
The one at the bird park still has evidence of down feathers on its neck, typical of very young birds.
“Luckily, it not only started feeding immediately on the many tiny invertebrates found in the water of the park, but is readily eating food that is given to the other flamingos,” said Dr Fenech.
“It can even be seen begging adults for food.
“Young flamingos are fed crop milk produced by the parents, which contains fat, protein and red and white blood cells.”
Young flamingos are a drab, greyish brown with just a hint of pink.
They become pink and grow in size like adults after about three years.
The pink in their feathers comes from carotenoid protein, which they get from their diet.
Flamingos can live for more than 27 years in the wild. The birds seen in Malta are likely to originate from breeding pairs in Italy, Sicily and Sardinia.
Three arrested over shooting
Three Gozitan men were arrested yesterday in connection with a flamingo killed in Gozo last week.
The men – a 66-year-old from Nadur, a 37-year-old from Għajnsielem and a 23-year-old from Żebbuġ – were arrested by the Gozo section of the Criminal Investigation Department, police said.
The flamingo was shot on Saturday at around 6.15pm in the area known as Tal-Fessej in Xewkija. Police were informed by eyewitnesses that the bird was shot by a hunter standing on the shore, who then sent his dog to retrieve the carcass.
Despite the several extensive patrols in the area, no sign of the flamingo was found. Despite this, the police found evidence linking the suspects to the shooting.