I’ve chosen to study the flamingo. There are six different kinds of flamingo, but I find the
Chilean flamingos to be the most interesting. I’ve always liked how bright and colorful flamingos looked, how they moved, and where they lived, but I don’t really know much about them. Flamingos are a very distinct type of bird in that they can be easily identified by their long legs, long curved necks, pink feathers, and goose-like voice. They also have webbed feet with three toes to help them move through the water more easily. These vertebrate are in the Aves class. What puts the flamingo in this class is the fact that it is a bird with wings that allow it to fly, and a bill that allows them to eat food that is available in their habitats. Flamingos…show more content… Chilean flamingos usually mate when it’s raining because it allows them to collect the supplies needed to build their nests and allows them to get more food. They usually look for a partner in areas that are suitable for breeding, like shallow water, mudflats and an area where the salt levels are suitable for young life. They build their nests quite close to each other for protection from predators and build mounds of mud about 2 feet tall to protect from heat and flooding on the ground level. This can take them up to 6 weeks to complete, which is right around the time when the mother is ready to lay the egg. The incubation of the egg lasts about 30 days. Flamingos, along with all other birds are oviparous, meaning the mother lays an egg, and the fetus develops outside of the mother's body. Once the mother lays the egg, both parents take turns sitting on it to keep it warm. When the baby flamingos do eventually hatch, they have grey feathers and straight bills. This is so that its parents can feed it by regurgitation, but its bill will gradually curve as the flamingo becomes more independent and leaves the intensive care of its mother. The flamingos feathers usually turn pink due to their diet. After about a week, the chick doesnt need to stay with the parents anymore and gets to join the colony and a groups of adults will care for all of the young
