Only two flamingos sighted on Sidi Boughaba Lake

Observation by Salma Sayeh:

The greater and lesser flamingos congregate on bodies of water across Africa, preferring shallow waters of lakes and wetlands (“Flamingo Flocks,” 2020). The continent is home to two to three million flamingos and is slowly dehydrating. Flamingos’ migration is in tune with the rains and “if breeding sites become unsuitable their flight for survival will become futile” (Childress et al., 2008, p.2). Last summer I visited a freshwater lake called Lac Sidi Boughaba which is in the Maamoura forest of Morocco. This lake is a superb spot to observe many different species of birds where they use it as a stop over to migrate South (Morris, 2014, para. 6). I spotted two flamingos lake one day on a hiking trip to see different bird species present at the Sidi Boughaba Lake National Park. Since flamingos live in large flocks it was unusual to see only two flamingos land on the lake. The reasons could be the pollution levels on the lake was too high or the droughts prevented any flamingos to use the lake. Seeing the two flamingos on their own was not expected, since these species live in large flocks for protection against predators (Lesser Flamingo, [seaworld.org] n.d.). This sighting was not expected from a sociable bird species that travel in large flocks.

LEO Network comments: Sometimes the sight of smaller groups of flamingos, or lone flamingos, mean the rest of the flock is not far. It can also mean the flamingo is disoriented or living in vagrancy (essentially homelessness for this species). There is also Psuedo-Vagrancy, and that is when individual birds of a flock will travel to suitable places that are not part of their regular migratory path. For more information about the social behavior of these birds, read this published scientific study published last year: "Evaluating the social networks of four flocks of captive flamingos over a five-year period: Temporal, environmental, group and health influences on assortment. Chyna Williams