Flamingo Lagoon at Punta Cormorant is a small, salt-water lagoon where flamingos can be seen, usually at sunrise, wading through the shallow waters. As they make their way across the brackish water they sift through the mud for shrimps. Pintail ducks, stilts, large-billed flycatchers, several species of finch and many other shorebirds can also be seen here.
The flamingos that live in the Galápagos are related to the ones that live in the Carribean and they gain their bright pink colour from the small shrimp and crustaceans that they eat. The Galápagos flamingos do not migrate and, although there has been no major decrease recently, their low numbers make them vulnerable. They are indistinguishable from other flamingo species, however they are loosely considered to be endemic, as they do not have contact with any other flamingos.
These beautiful birds lay only one egg and both parents tend to it, taking shifts. If anything happens to either parent this process is broken and the egg will be put at risk by being left alone while the remaining parent goes to get food. This reproductive pattern contributes to the vulnerability of the species.
SOURCES:
- https://www.galapagosislands.com/newsletter/archive/census_for_the_flamingos.html
- https://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/the-islands/floreana/
