Flamingos Flapping | The Yorkshire Dad of 4

Flamingos at Dusk

Flamingos are fascinating birds and I love to watch them. This is a shot I captured at Chester Zoo towards the end of the day when the light was golden.

These are Chilean Flamingos, but don’t let the name fool you are as they are also found in Argentina and Bolivia. Their main habitats in the wilds are estuaries, lagoons, mud flats and salt lakes. There are two type of flamingo, the other being Caribbean Flamingos. While you usually think of flamingos being bright pink in colour, the Chilean flamingo is paler than the Caribbean.

Flamingos get their colour from the food they eat, crustaceans and algae. Chicks are born fluffy and grey and will develop their pink colour for up to three years.

Did you know that flamingos can manoeuvre their beak to float upside down in the water and it has a filter, a bit like a comb, to help them drain out food.

The Chilean flamingo is a near threatened species with around 200,000 to 300,000 in the wild. This means that in the near future they are likely to become endangered and threatened, with a high risk of extinction.

The technical details

  • Camera: Canon EOS 50D
  • Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm
  • Exposure: 1/640 | f/5.0 Z ISO100 | 180mm

While you are here..

Please check out some of my other posts from this week:


 

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