Ecobreves – CUBA: Pink Flamingos Return to Nest

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Aug 25 2007 (IPS) - Active nests of pink flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber), which saw a sharp decline during the Cuban droughts of 2004 and 2005, underwent a boom last year when the rainfall returned to normal levels. A count found 140,000, including adults and chicks, at the mouth of the Máximo River in Camagüey province, 534 km from Havana, José Jomarrón, expert in protected areas, told Tierramérica.

Scientists and residents of La Mola, Camagüey, concluded the process in mid-August of identifying 300 new pink flamingo birds.

They placed a bright orange ring around a leg of each one, visible from great distances, in order to track migration routes, behavior, lifespan, productive age and other factors, Jomarrón explained.

The flamingoes migrate each year from the greater Caribbean and the Antilles to the mouths of the rivers Máximo and Camagüey to reproduce.