New flamingo chicks strut their stuff at Fort Worth Zoo, minus the pink plumage

Visitors to the Fort Worth Zoo may see a baker’s dozen of newly hatched flamingo chicks.

The zoo announced Tuesday that 13 lesser flamingo chicks have hatched at the zoo’s flamingo exhibit since January.

For years, the zoo had “little breeding success” with its lesser flamingos in the outdoor habitat. But zoo staff added heating lamps and a small pool to the habitat, as well as mirrors to make it look like there were more birds, and it has hatched 196 lesser flamingo chicks since 2002.

“Lesser flamingos are extremely difficult to breed in captivity and reproduce less than any other flamingo species found in U.S. zoos,” the zoo said in a news release.

The zoo’s lesser flamingo breeding program is the world’s most successful, according to the news release.

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 1:26 PM with the headline "New flamingo chicks strut their stuff at Fort Worth Zoo, minus the pink plumage."