Heartwarming flamingo dads adopt abandoned baby chick

Sometimes we discover stories that restore our faith in the universe. This, dear reader, is one of those instances… In heart-warming animal news today, a same-sex flamingo couple have become the adoptive parents to an orphaned chick at a UK zoo.

In Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England, an American flamingo baby was left in a nest before it had even hatched from its egg. Once transferred to an incubator for safe-keeping, zookeepers set to finding a new set of parents for the little chick.

Who did they settle on? Gay flamingo couple Hudson and Blaze, who have a shared nest and have been described by the zoo as “experienced flamingo parents”. When the egg was then placed in their nest, they nurtured it and kept it warm until it hatched.

 “Flamingos usually work together, as a monogamous pair, to care for their eggs and subsequent chicks. Hudson and Blaze were the clear choice for the incubated egg, as they have always proved to be ideal parents,” said the zoo’s bird team leader, Tim Savage.

“After the chick hatched in their nest, they sat with it for two weeks, keeping it warm and protecting it from other flamingos, who often squabble and shove around different nest sites,” he added.

Same-sex flamingos have previously been encountered at the zoo, as have throuples (the flamingos said poly rights!). Penguins are known to also partner into same-sex couples during breeding season.

Interestingly, male flamingoes as well as female flamingoes can produce milk to feed their chicks, a totally cool fact we had no idea of until today. Add to that the fact that a group of flamingoes is called a "flamboyance", and you can see that the bird is a total LGBTQIA+ icon.

Petition to give these birds a float at Pride?