Gay flamingos become parents
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For all the homophobs out there take note it happens in nature too
But Carlos and Fernando the gay flamingos could be forgiven for being tickled pink yesterday after they officially adopted their first chick.
The two male love birds are used to getting extra attention at their wildlife reserve since they came out of the avian closet and performed complex mating rituals with each other. The pink partners had been so desperate to have chicks that they had resorted to stealing eggs to fulfil their unlikely dream of a starting a family at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
But their egg-sitting and hatching skills impressed staff so much that when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned last week, they were considered the number one choice to "adopt" the chick. The unhatched egg was whisked off to an incubator where it was warmed up and monitored. Hours later a healthy chick hatched, but staff were concerned the flamboyant duo would not bond with the newborn because the process normally begins when the chicks are "calling" them from inside the egg. Cunning staff hatched a plan and the chick was carefully placed in an old eggshell, which was taped up and returned to the unsuspecting couple's empty nest.
The pair were soon seen 'talking' to the chick inside the egg and a little while later it hatched for a second time - to be greeted by its loving new foster parents.
WWT spokeswoman Jane Waghorn said: "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.
"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.
"Carlos and Fernando have really bonded with the chick and are very good at being protective parents - finally to one of their own.
"Flamingos raise their young in groups and the couple are acting just like the other proud parents by watching out for other's young as well as their own." The pair, who have been together for about six years, can feed their chick without any female help - by producing milk in their throat.
The chick, who is being brought up in a "creche" with 15 other newborns, has been welcomed into the flock, under the watchful eye of its new parents. Flamingos, although monogamous during breeding periods, usually find a different partner each year, making the enduring love of Carlos and Fernando all the more remarkable. "They only have eyes for each other," said Nigel Jarrett, a keeper at Slimbridge. "They will probably stay together for the rest of their lives."
Alongside their heterosexual neighbours, Carlos and Fernando perform an elaborate courtship dance twice a year before settling down to build nests. The mating ritual involves elaborate preening and strutting. The males are the most energetic, waving their heads vigorously from side to side with their necks at full stretch.
Mr Jarrett says that both Carlos and Fernando take on the male roles during the courtship dance, but because they cannot produce eggs of their own, they steal them from the 800 flamingos in their colony.
Carlos and Fernando are Greater Flamingos, which are native to India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Africa.
The tropical birds, which live on algae and small fish, can grow over 4ft tall.
Homosexual behaviour has been observed in many species, including penguins, beetles, sheep, bats, dolphins and orang utans
The above copy is from The Daily Mail UK Link