The number of flamingos born last year doubled compared to 2014 after the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) created suitable nesting grounds for the pernickety birds.
The EAD’s terrestrial biodiversity team bred 420 flamingo chicks, up from 200 in 2014, in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, a 30-minute car ride from Abu Dhabi city.
For more than two-and-a-half months, the team observed the birds and monitored the reserve to create an ideal environment for them.
Flamingos are known to err on the side of caution when choosing breeding grounds and will seldom attempt breeding if they perceive a threat.
The EAD tries to limit the dangers by managing what they call “the nesting island”. An EAD team increased the land size, monitored the water quality and ensured there were no natural bridges by which predators could get to the birds.
The balance between water quality and perceived threat is precarious and must be closely monitored. As the flamingos appeared in April last year, nests, in the shape of mounds built from sand, were a welcome sight for the EAD team in Al Wathba.
Artemia salina, a species of brine shrimp, is the main food source for the greater flamingos, the largest members of the flamingo family, and the reason for their signature pink hue.
The EAD team times the hatching of the aquatic crustaceans with the arrival of the flamingos to ensure that the birds have enough brine shrimp to feed on.
In the two weeks since the flamingos’ arrival in the middle of April last year, the EAD team witnessed 400 new mounds on the nesting island. A month later, the first of the 420 birds were born.
Other animal species found at Al Wathba include the greater spotted eagle, the red fox, the Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard, and the newly discovered cuckoo wasps with metallic colors.
The greater flamingos are not deemed to be endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
However, the populations of greater flamingos are unstable because the birds are very particular about finding conducive breeding grounds. Al Wathba is the only place where the birds breed on an annual basis, and this hasn’t happened in more than 50 years. (The National)
PHOTO: Four hundred and twenty flamingos were born in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve last year, up from 200 in 2014.
CREDIT: Dr. Salim Javid / EAD.