Volunteers Tag 600 Flamingo Chicks

In a singular show of biology stewardship, Catalina García, Andalusia’s Regional Minister for Sustainability and Environment, visited nan Fuente de Piedra Lagoon Natural Reserve successful Malaga Province, wherever astir 600 flamingo chicks were ringed arsenic portion of an yearly conservation effort. 

This year’s arena connected Saturday, August 9, has reached a historical challenge, pinch complete 22,700 chicks born, nan highest number ever recorded astatine nan site. The ringing operation, which has to day tagged much than 20,000 flamingoes since nan 1980s, progressive astir 400 volunteers successful 1 of Andalusia’s astir important initiatives for conservation, research, and biology education.

García praised nan arena arsenic an “extraordinary day” that was a operation of technological rigour and societal and biology commitment. “In conscionable 3 hours, we captured, identified, measured, tagged and released each chick successful a meticulously coordinated effort that deserves typical recognition,” she said. The individual marking of communal flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) will let elaborate search without recapture, providing valuable information connected breeding behaviour, migration routes, and wetland usage crossed nan Mediterranean and northwest Africa.

Releasing nan flamingo chicks.
Credit: Junta de Andalucía

The occurrence of this year’s breeding play owes overmuch to exceptional h2o conditions successful March, pinch complete 200 litres per quadrate metre of rainfall. This allowed nan lagoon to scope a extent of 54 centimetres and truthful created an perfect residence for 33,900 breeding pairs, which is nan highest number since monitoring began successful 1984. “Water has brought life, and this life has flourished,” García said erstwhile discussing nan lagoon’s domiciled arsenic a captious earthy ecosystem.

The wetland has been recognised arsenic of world value nether nan Ramsar Convention since 1983. Fuente de Piedra is besides portion of nan Natura 2000 web arsenic a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds. Other than flamingoes, it supports type for illustration nan communal crane (Grus grus) and black-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica). The Andalusian authorities has truthful acold invested astir €1 cardinal from nan EU’s Next Generation costs to amended nan lagoon’s infrastructure.

The ringing process began astatine dawn, pinch volunteers guiding non-flying chicks into a holding area. Each vertebrate was fitted pinch metallic and integrative rings, measured, weighed, and sampled earlier release. The protocol’s precision, honed complete astir 4 decades, ensured nary harm was done to nan animals. The cognition was led by nan reserve’s unit and supported by nan Andalusian Environment and Water Agency and progressive experts, researchers, students, and section residents, on pinch contributions from Córdoba Zoo, nan Guardia Civil, and Civil Protection.