First Caribbean Flamingo egg laid at Paradise Park in five years
The parents have been named Colin and Penelope after Netflix-hit show Bridgerton
Last updated 19th Jun 2024
A Caribbean flamingo has laid an egg at a Cornwall wildlife sanctuary for the first time in five years.
The rare flamingo egg has been laid at Paradise Park in Hayle on 15 June.
The parents are a pair of flamingos, who have now been named Colin and Penelope, inspired by the elegance and intrigue of ‘Bridgerton’ and characters Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington.
Keeper Becky Waite said: "We have only had one egg hatch previously, which was back in 2019, and that was the now famous ‘Derek’ who was hand-reared as the parents stopped incubating it a few days before it was due to hatch.
"So, we stepped in, put the egg in an incubator and the rest is history! The name Derek was my initial nickname for ‘him’, but at about 8 days old, I sent a bit of the eggshell for DNA analysis and found out that Derek was in fact a girl! The name had already stuck with everyone, so we decide to keep it."
"The new egg is from a different pair to Derek’s parents, and fingers crossed, it will hatch around mid-July. It’s great to see that others in the flock also seem very interested in nesting, so you never know, more eggs could be laid soon. Here’s hoping!"
Paradise Park has nine Caribbean flamingos in their open enclosure within the Walled Garden.
Flamingos form strong pair bonds, and just one egg is laid with both male and female feeding the chick on a special ‘crop milk’.
They are long lived birds that can reach the age of 40 and able to breed from age 6.