What do you get when two flamingos lay an egg and abandon it? A flamingo foster parent named Griffin!

Flamingo Chick Boom:

Phoenix Zoo’s excited to announce that greater flamingo chicks are hatching in the greater flamingo habitat on the Africa Trail at the Phoenix Zoo – the first time in the Zoo’s history!

Greater flamingo chicks hatch with white/gray, downy feathers, and straight bills. They won’t get their iconic pink color and hook-shaped bills for several years.

Flamingo parents are team players, both helping to build the nest, which looks like a mini mud volcano, and incubate the egg.

Once the greater flamingo chick hatches, both parents produce crop milk, which is filled with healthy proteins and fats, until the chick can eat on its own.

The chicks flock together in large groups called crèches, and are looked after by a few adults. The parents will visit the crèche to feed their chick with crop milk. The chicks and their parents can recognize one another through their distinctive calls!