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Friday, May 25, 2007 | Reason : In the News | print version Print | Comments

Document Gay flamingos pick up chick

by Yahoo! News

Thanks to Ranjani for the link.

Reposted from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070521/od_afp/britainanimalsgay_070521160344;_ylt=ArAYz5gWeX2acXt.F9P79c_MWM0F
Flamingos bask in the sun at La Aurora zoo in Guatemala. A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years.(AFP/File/Orlando Sierra)
LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday.

Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol.

But their egg-sitting prowess made them the top choice for taking an unhatched egg under their wings when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned.

The couple, together for six years, can feed chicks by producing milk in their throats.

"Fernando and Carlos are a same sex couple who have been known to steal other flamingos' eggs by chasing them off their nest because they wanted to rear them themselves," said WWT spokeswoman Jane Waghorn.

"They were rather good at sitting on eggs and hatching them so last week, when a nest was abandoned, it seemed like a good idea to make them surrogate parents."

Gay flamingos are not uncommon, she added.

"If there aren't enough females or they don't hit it off with them, they will pair off with other males," she said.

Comments 1 - 6 of 6 |

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1. Comment #44614 by MIND_REBEL on May 25, 2007 at 5:37 am

 avatarLet me guess- God created gay pink flamingos.

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2. Comment #44672 by Stuart Paul Wood on May 25, 2007 at 7:01 am

Gay flamingos are the work of Satan!!

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3. Comment #44750 by GodlessHeathen on May 25, 2007 at 8:51 am

 avatarWhile admiring our local zoo's pink flamingos, a woman read aloud to her two young children from a display placard that discussed the two males there who are pair-bonded like Carlos and Fernando. She said it was probably all the pink, which I found an amusing off-remark.

Then she sneered and complained to the air that the zoo had no right to keep dying the birds that color.

Anyhow, it's great to see nature's examples. =^.^=

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4. Comment #44763 by bruce on May 25, 2007 at 9:02 am

I'm sure with a little religious therapy we can straighten those birds out. If we don't do something soon their adopted chick will catch the gay as well!

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5. Comment #44845 by ligfietser on May 25, 2007 at 11:53 am

 avatarMen who pick up chicks, don't seem particularly gay.

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6. Comment #45169 by MIDVALCRE on May 26, 2007 at 4:55 pm

I heard God hates gay pink flamingos! hehe. Seriously tho, it does kinda bring up a whole new slant when you say you have to give the talk about "The Birds and the Bees". First, the bees have all disapeared and now the Birds might not exactly be the greatest examples any more.

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