Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

I am a proud member of the Los Angeles Zoo, which is home to more than 1,100 animals from around the world, representing more than 250 different species, many of which are endangered in the wild. The zoo is also a Botanical Garden, featuring more than 800 different species of plants, which provide food and shelter for many native and migratory birds, and also provides browse for many residents of the zoo.

A Chilean Flamingo<br />
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Flamingos are extremely gregarious and social birds with some flocks containing 200,000 pairs. They breed in huge colonies, sometimes on islands in shallow water to minimize disturbance. They are monogamous. Each pair builds a cylindrical mud nest into which the female lays a single chalky shelled egg. Both parents incubate the egg alternately, which hatches in about four weeks; and it takes another ten weeks before the chick fledges. After hatching, the chick is fed “crop milk”, cells that are grown in the crops of both parents. After about one month the chick begins to eat solid food. Since the adult coloration comes from their food, the chicks are born with gray feathers. It takes about two years to attain full adult coloration. Flamingos are strong flyers, flying in long curved lines with the neck and legs extended. Flamingos are estimated to live between 25-60 years.

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A Chilean Flamingo

Flamingos are extremely gregarious and social birds with some flocks containing 200,000 pairs. They breed in huge colonies, sometimes on islands in shallow water to minimize disturbance. They are monogamous. Each pair builds a cylindrical mud nest into which the female lays a single chalky shelled egg. Both parents incubate the egg alternately, which hatches in about four weeks; and it takes another ten weeks before the chick fledges. After hatching, the chick is fed “crop milk”, cells that are grown in the crops of both parents. After about one month the chick begins to eat solid food. Since the adult coloration comes from their food, the chicks are born with gray feathers. It takes about two years to attain full adult coloration. Flamingos are strong flyers, flying in long curved lines with the neck and legs extended. Flamingos are estimated to live between 25-60 years.

Chilean flamingo Flamingo

Terri Chapman Photography

Capturing the Splendor of Nature and Divine Light

Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens