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Posted by Rafael Galvez on 23:27:21 09/28/07
A visit to Hialeah Park clears contradictory statements given by park authorities.
The flamingos at Hialeah Park are very pale birds; the birds sighted recently in the Everglades (and Cutler Wetlands) show brighter coloration.
The Hialeah flamingos feed-walk and stomp as expected of wild birds.
I ve been concerned about contradictory information I was receiving from the various parties that had recent contact with the flamingo collection at Hialeah Park. The break-through finally came when the guardian of the flamingos finally responded to my many phone calls. This gentleman has been feeding the flamingos at the park for the last 16 years. He was very candid and informative and was able to take me into the closed park to examine the flamingos myself. I spent Thursday (Sept. 27) morning documenting the flock.
Contrary to what I had been told over the phone (by the Asset Manager of the park and by people at MetroZoo), Hialeah flamingos are not fed dog food with food coloring, but are fed poultry feed with no coloring. I got clear sight of the feeding barrels and took samples of the food.
There are about 350 free-flying flamingos living in a small artificial lake at the park, and the birds are fed on a mud slab that is partially flooded. When the feeding barrels (2) are filled with feed, the flamingos wearily wait until the humans have moved away, and then race to the feeders to get their fill. Afterwards, the flamingos stroll over to the flooded portion of the mud slab, and do a bit of ceremonial feed-walking, sifting their inverted bills through the water in typical flamingo behavior. Some of the birds were stomping, agitating the ground in the manner wild flamingos often forage. But this ceremonial feeding would not last long; the flamingos quickly raced back to compete for a space at the elevated feeding barrels. I watched the feeding of the flock last for over 2 hours.
None of the Hialeah flamingos had the bright scarlet head, neck, or bill parts as did the brighter birds I documented recently at Snake Bight (Adult-types #1, 2, & 3, see my post 09/22/07). The great majority of the flamingos at Hialeah Park are very pale birds, with mild rosy plumage, and very little if any scarlet coloration. Only 5 or 6 of the birds had enough color on their heads and flight-feathers to rival the lesser-colored adults I documented at Snake Bight.
The Hialeah birds lacked color primarily in their flight-feathers, where it may be brightest scarlet in wild Caribbean Flamingo adults. None of the birds showed bright scarlet on their tertials, and very few birds showed scarlet on their greater coverts. The overall pink coloration of the recent Cutler Wetlands flamingo (particularly the bright scarlet wing coverts) contrast strongly against the poorly colored Hialeah birds. However, many Hialeah birds showed brightest pink on their heads and necks, and 2 or 3 of the birds wore bright scarlet heads.
Other facts about the Hialeah Park flamingos:
Some of the birds have unkempt appearances, untidy feathers and dislodged wings. Few birds showed strange growths on their necks, or bare portions of the neck.
All the birds appear to be adults; their guardian at the park assured me that some of the birds are quite old. I saw no signs of nests, though I ve been told that the birds lay eggs and that MetroZoo collects them for incubation.
There is no evidence that the birds are counted on a regular basis. None of the birds are banded. The guardian has told me he s seen birds take flight over the park on rare occasion, and even appear to go away, only to fly back and join the others. He has told me that his birds are quite content with their living conditions, and that if they were to fly away, it would only be briefly. To his knowledge, no birds were lost during the storms of 2005, and only 1 bird died during Hurricane Andrew. However, seeing how he is responsible for the livelihood of the collection, he d be the last to admit any of the birds were lost.
I left with much footage, many drawings, and plenty of feathers.
I feel that with certitude in can be said that any flamingo seen on a wetland or flat anywhere in South Florida wearing brightly-colored plumage did not recently stem off the captive flock of poorly-colored flamingos at Hialeah Park.
The investigation continues.
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