For the seventh consecutive time, Tour du Valat has coordinated the ringing of chicks from the pink flamingo colony at the Aigues-Mortes salt works, in south of France. This site, owned by the “Compagnie des Salins du Midi” and “Salines de l’Est”, is the only pink flamingo nesting site in France.
This year, our team of researchers counted around 13,000 breeding pairs and 3,000 chicks. This is a relatively low breeding success for this species, mainly due to a very stormy spring that disrupted many pairs. However, eggs laid later, from the beginning of June, showed a better hatching rate.
450 pink flamingo chicks ringed on Wednesday 7 August 2024 at the Aigues-Mortes salt marsh
At dawn on Wednesday 7 August 2024, around 150 volunteers gathered to take part in the ringing of 450 pink flamingo chicks, an essential step in their study. Organised in partnership with the Compagnie des Salins du Midi, the operation involves fitting each chick with a ring engraved with a unique code that can be read from a distance.
The chicks, gathered together in a “nursery”, are first encircled by the participants and then guided to an enclosure known as the ‘corral’, where they are taken in hand to be ringed, weighed and measured. After being handled for just a few minutes, each chick is released into the pond to join the rest of the uncaptured flamingo flock.
Ringing flamingos doesn’t alter their subsequent behaviour. Numerous studies have shown that neither their survival nor their reproductive success is affected by wearing a band.
A long-term scientific programme for pink flamingo conservation
These emblematic birds, which live in shallow brackish and saltwater lagoons, remain a vulnerable species, as most of the wetlands on which they depend are under threat.
The ringing is part of a study programme launched when Tour du Valat was set up in 1954, and structured more rigorously from 1977 onwards. Every year since then, Tour du Valat has fitted several hundred flamingo chicks with rings, so that each individual can be identified and tracked. These observations have made it possible to build up a database that is unique in the world, essential for implementing conservation measures tailored to the local context and the specific needs of the species.
In 2024, during our observations of the colony, we identified 27 different individuals born and ringed in 1977, i.e. 47 years old birds !
Find out more about Tour du Valat ‘Flamingo population dynamics’ project
Adopt a pink flamingo to preserve Mediterranean wetlands!
To raise awareness of the need to preserve wetlands, the Tour du Valat has chosen the mythical pink flamingo as its emblem.
‘Adopt a Flamingo’ is a unique and fun way to sponsor flamingos in the wild. The aim is to raise funds to contribute to the study and preservation of flamingos in wetlands. The Tour du Valat offers individuals the chance to sponsor a pink flamingo for between 25 and 100 euros, depending on the formula chosen: adopt one of our mascots; choose a member of one of our four families; or choose a flamingo according to age, sex… and give it the name of your choice. Corporate sponsorships are also available.
- Go to : www.monflamant.com/en