San Diego Zoo flamingos
San Diego Zoo flamingos are brilliantly colored in shades of hot pink, salmon and peach. They maintain their brilliance thanks to the foods they are supplied. Their pink or reddish color comes from the rich sources of carotenoid pigments like from carrots. Their primary sources of these carotenoid pigments are algae and small crustaceans. There are flamingos at both the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park (the sister zoo owned and operated by the same not-for-profit organization). At the Wild Animal Park on that bus tour I recall the guide saying that many zoos cut corners and don’t feed their flamingos the carotenoid diets which are more expensive, thus their flamingos may not seem as bright and rich in color as you’ll see at these two zoos.
When I visited San Diego and the zoo for the very first time, I was amazed by the flamingo display and when I returned to Kansas to finish up my college degree, I sat in class remembering those beautiful birds, and the tropical flavor of this great escape. While I don’t know if there are still flamingos living in the waters and on the grounds of the Marriott hotel on Coronado Island, the climate sure is ideal for the life of a flamingo cared for in San Diego.
The San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park are among only a handful of zoos in the world that raise offspring from four of the six flamingo species. The social creatures that can be found in flocks of up to one million birds in East Africa are most comfortable standing on just one leg. Laying only one egg which takes around 30 days to hatch, the chick becomes a full size adult in 3 to 5 years. Flamingos fly by running a little bit to get up speed, and they eat by scooping the mud for food with their bill upside down.
The beautiful flamingo is an amazing creature to watch and San Diego’s zoos seem to treat them well.
Travel tip: One of the best ways to see the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park both is through the 3 in 1 pass, which also gains you admission to Sea World San Diego. You get five days of unlimited admission to all three parks.
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