Seven fluffy white Chilean flamingo chicks are on display at a zoo in southwest England for the first time since 2018 — and one is particularly notable for the way it made its entrance. Two male flamingos named Arthur and Curtis successfully hatched an egg together — a first for the Paignton Zoo. The zoo has had several all-male pairings during past breeding seasons, so the same-sex couple is not an unexpected turn of events, said Pete Smallbones, the zoo’s curator of birds.
But the zoo is not sure exactly how the couple acquired the egg. Two male flamingos named Arthur and Curtis successfully hatched an egg together at the Paignton Zoo in southwest England. “It’s likely that this egg became available — unprotected, kind of just left (in a nest) — and then they’ve taken the opportunity,” said Pete Smallbones, the zoo’s curator of birds.
“As a bird department, we’re more than aware of how it’s a known thing for , penguins and other species to have same sex pairings. So, it wasn’t a shock — I suppose it was a slight surprise, just because it wasn’t quite the expected (male and female pairing).” During breeding season, the couples usually spend more time together and follow each other around the enclosure, but a pairing is confirmed when two birds pick a nest to share, where they will take turns sitting on the mud mound with or without an egg.
This year, however, a same-sex pair had an egg to sit on. While two male birds hatching an egg together.