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Your morning adorable: Chilean flamingo chick already knows how to stand on one leg

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At Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, two Chilean flamingo chicks that recently hatched have joined their parents on public display, and more chicks are expected to join them at any time.

This is the second successful breeding season for Chilean flamingos at the zoo. Last year, three chicks were born in the flock, but they were hand-raised by zoo staff instead of by their parents; this year, the parents are doing all the work! Three additional eggs are expected to hatch soon.

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Flamingo chicks typically leave the nest when they’re only a few days old, but stick close to their parents, who feed them with a secretion called ‘crop milk,’ according to the zoo. Crop milk is dark red in color and is produced in the upper digestive tract of adult birds (both male and female).

Adult flamingos get their coloring from pigments in their food; these guys won’t turn their signature vivid pink until they’re about 2 or 3 years old.

See more photos and a video after the jump!

RELATED CUTE BABY BIRDS:
Your morning adorable: Gentoo penguin chick flaps his wings as if trying to fly
Your morning adorable: Emu chick at the Berlin Zoo

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video credit: Woodland Park Zoo

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