Hatchlings preparing for wild on largest artificial flamingo island

İZMİR

Some 15,000 baby flamingos, having hatched out of their eggs in May, have been developing their life skills on the world’s largest artificial incubation island in the western province of İzmir.

One of the two flamingo breeding sites in Türkiye, the 6.5-acre artificial island was constructed in 2012 in the İzmir Bird Paradise, a natural and archaeological protected area home to 289 different bird species.

On the island, newly born flamingos begin to swim in a special area named “kindergarten” 20 to 25 days following their birth. The baby flamingos spend most of their time in this kindergarten while also occasionally paying a visit to the island where they were born.

The flamingo babies spend two months with their families, acquiring flying skills and learning to survive independently in the wild by their third month. They migrate to various countries once they reach a certain point of maturity.

Underscoring that the breeding site had been meticulously prepared before the incubation period, field supervisor Murat Aslanapa provided information on the process to the local media.

“Flamingos initially flap their wings against the wind and then move on to wetlands. Once they acquire flying skills there, they can travel to countries such as Tunisia, Greece, Italy, France and Spain with ease,” he explained.

National Parks and Nature Conservation teams are also putting a lot of effort into making sure that flamingo babies are not disturbed during the incubation period, according to the local media.