SerpApi.Org
You don't have to share DNA with a baby to know when you're meant to be their dad.
Two male flamingos at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park proved that beautifully when they were trusted with an egg, hatched a tiny chick, and immediately stepped into fatherhood like they had been preparing for it their entire lives.
Technically, they had practiced.
Earlier in 2024, wildlife care specialists gave the pair a dummy egg after noticing their interest in nesting. The two flamingos took the assignment seriously enough to earn the real thing: a fertile egg that needed devoted foster parents.
They didn't wing it.
The dads took turns sitting on the egg, carefully sharing brooding duties until their chick hatched in September. After that, they moved directly into feeding, protecting, and keeping their fuzzy new family member happy.
The zoo shared that both dads provide crop "milk," a nutrient-rich substance flamingos produce in their upper digestive tract. Male and female flamingos can both make it, which means these two had everything their baby needed.
To me, they sound more organized than most households.
One dad handles the baby while the other gets a break. Then they switch. No discussion about whose turn it is. No pretending not to hear the baby flamingo. Just two experienced birds in their 40s raising a chick together and completely nailing the assignment.
One commenter was less surprised by the parenting and more shaken by the fact that there are flamingos older than they are.
I have never even seen a flamingo in real life, and now I'm emotionally invested in the family life of three flamingos living hundreds of miles away. I fully support this union, and I am officially an ally to two of the best dads in California.
Their parenting story is also wonderfully practical. By placing the fertile egg with a pair already eager to nest, the wildlife care team gave another flamingo pair the opportunity to produce and raise an additional chick.
That's not just good parenting.
That's co-parenting with conservation benefits.
And these dads aren't the only same-sex flamingo pair to raise a chick. Other male flamingo couples have successfully cared for eggs and babies, too, including Curtis and Arthur at a zoo in the United Kingdom.
Is Same-Sex Parenting Common in the Animal Kingdom?
Same-sex pairs, courtship, bonding, and parenting have been observed across many animal species. The exact behavior varies, but some pairs incubate eggs, foster young, protect nests, or help raise offspring when the opportunity arrives.
Flamingos are well-suited to shared parenting because both adults can incubate an egg and feed a chick. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance explains that flamingo chicks receive crop milk produced in the parents' upper digestive tract.
A few things to know:
- Foster parenting can help more chicks thrive. A capable pair may be given an egg when another bird cannot raise it or when careful egg management supports the flock.
- Good parenting is about behavior. Protecting, feeding, responding, and consistently caring for young are what make these bonds work.
These two flamingo dads were given a chance to prove themselves, and they turned fatherhood into their brightest achievement yet. 🦩
🐶SIGN UP to get “pawsitivity” delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends🐾🐾
Related: A Flamingo Spotted These Hungry Ducklings and Immediately Stepped Into 'Mom Mode'
