DESIGN / SAN DIEGO'S PINKISH VERSION OF CAPISTRANO SWALLOWS

Floyd (Pink Floyd, get it?) and Flo mimick the recent seasonal return to San Diego Bay much like the annual return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano.

A pair of wild flamingos have returned to San Diego’s South Bay for the winter.

 Local birdwatchers have named them Floyd and Flo. The protected species were sighted recently near the current military installations at the south end of the Silver Strand for the 6th year in a row. 

 The American flamingo is one of the largest species of flamingo, averaging up to 5 feet tall thanks to long legs and an elongated neck. They are considered non-migratory but can easily fly large distances. Average weights are between 4-8 pounds. 

 Flamingos also have black feathers at the edge of their wings. They have webbed feet for wading in shallow water and a distinctive black tip on their bills.

The San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are among only a handful of zoos in the world to raise offspring from four of the six flamingo species. So far, more than 450 chicks have been successfully hatched at the San Diego Zoos. 

 To keep them happy, Zoo keepers feed flamingo’s a special pellet diet that is made for zoo flamingos. This food has all the nutrients the flamingos need and a pigment that helps keep them “in the pink.” This allows flamingos to eat in their normal way (taking in water and then pumping it back out), a water source just for feeding is near their food so they can get a “beakful” of water and then food—just like they would out in nature.

 In the wild, the flamingo’s pink or reddish color comes from the rich sources of carotenoid pigments (like the pigments of carrots) in the algae and small crustaceans the birds eat. Humans eat carotenoids, too, whenever we munch on carrots, beets, and certain other veggies, but not enough to turn us orange! (except for a certain US President). 

 American flamingos, a subspecies of greater flamingo, are the brightest, showing their true colors of red, pink, or orange on their legs, bills, and faces. 

 Flamingos are social birds that live in groups of varying sizes, from a few pairs to sometimes thousands or tens of thousands. 

 Are Floyd and Flo regulars at the zoo’s flamingo cafes? No one has really checked but no one would be surprised if the couple were occasional guests. In order to fly, flamingo’s need a fairly large runway of land and a good stiff breeze to fly into. 

 Image: Randy Dible.