Flamingos are social birds that live in groups.
Caribbean Flamingos do not breed every season. But when they do, the female lays one large, white egg. The breeding pair may spend six weeks preparing their nests. They seek out safe areas on the ground and bring in small stones and mud. The birds then knit the mass together in a conelike formation bound with feathers.
Habitat
Flamingos prefer saltwater areas in the tropical and subtropical tidal areas such as shallow coastal lagoons, mangrove swamps, salt lakes and mudflats. Caribbean flamingos seek out shady areas for nesting, but they are territorial only during the breeding season. They live in large colonies composed of thousands of birds. The breeders build the mud-mound nests in low-lying areas covered with shallow water.
Nesting Sites
Flamingo colonies search out an area where there is an adequate supply of mud, water, small stones and grasses available for nest building. Once the site is chosen, the birds establish the breeding ground for the mating pairs. The colony sets up the communal breeding ground and nursery a distance away from feeding and resting areas. The breeders construct their nests with approximately a 5-foot radius from neighboring nests, allowing the parents to come and go without disturbing the other nesting pairs.
Nest Building
Males and females work together in nest construction. The chosen breeding area will be flat and muddy with varying water levels as the tides move in and out. The birds stand in the water and pull mud toward their feet with their bills to form a platform. They also use small stones, straw and feathers to thicken and solidify the mound. Once they've established a sound base, the birds continue to build up the mud in a cone formation until it is about a foot high. The flamingos then flatten out the top and make a shallow depression in it to receive the egg. They make no effort to camouflage the nests. With hundreds of other nests nearby, there is protection in numbers.
Nest Maintenance
After the female lays the egg, the parent birds take turns incubating it for the next 26 to 31 days. During that time, they maintain the nest by dribbling wet mud over it and adjusting the egg's placement. The nest's size will continue to increase until the hatching time, when some nests may be as high as 2 to 3 feet. This keeps the eggs moist and cool and prevents them from baking in the extreme tropical heat of the day.
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