PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) ─ For the first time in more than two decades, a Chilean flamingo chick was born at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Zoo posted on its Facebook page a video of the “little floof” which, as of Wednesday, is seven days old.
The chick is the first flamingo to be born at Roger Williams Park Zoo in 22 years, the Zoo said.
“Mom is doing a great job tending to her little one,” the Zoo wrote in its Facebook post. “Our fabulous keepers and vet care team will continue to monitor mom and baby.”
The post prompted a flood of cooing comments about the “little cotton ball” – flamingo offspring are born white, with soft, downy feathers and a straight bill. The older they get, the more the bill begins to curve downward, according to the zoo.
Both parents – flamingo pairs are monogamous – take turns feeding their young a type of milk produced in their digestive systems called “crop milk.”
A flamingo’s lifespan ranges between 40 to 60 years.
