Flamingos pick friends

You might think there's nothing in the little heads of flamingos, but these elegant birds actually live a complex social life. Every bird has other individuals that they like, as well as individuals who don't want to get along. In other words, flamingos have friends.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust manages a large number of wetlands in the UK, some of which have many captive waterbirds, including flamingos.

Paul Rose, a psychologist at the University of Exeter's Centre for Animal Behavior Research, and his team observed the daily activities of 5 of the world's 6 species of flamingos at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. The five species of flamingos are the Chilean Flamingo, the Andean Flamingo, the American Flamingo, the James Flamingo and the Small Flamingo.

"We see partnerships between birds that are not random. The birds choose who to associate with. Rose said.

Males and females stay together, but the same sex also stays together, even in groups of three or four birds. These relationships can last for many years. The results of the study were recently published in Behavioral Processes. "There were also some in the group of flamingos who didn't care who their partner was that day. They fly around and have different relationships with different birds. Rose said. There are also flamingos, which are not "socialites" but "lone wolves". But it also has some close friends. "The most unsociable birds have invested more in few social relationships with flamingos they are very familiar with."

Rose believes that flamingos may have evolved social life because of wetland habitats because the resources they need are concentrated in a small area. "Social organization needs to be built in an environment, it has to be a social environment. If the flamingo knows its companions, such as knowing that the 6 birds are friendly and get along well, then it can waste less energy and not argue with the birds that don't get along well. Rose said.

By being with friends, flamingos can more effectively devote their limited time and energy to activities such as foraging and mating. "If I wanted to stand on one leg to sort the feathers, I would stand next to Fiona because I got along well with her, instead of standing next to Frank and we would have a fight."

This may sound familiar. Yes, each of us has our own "Fiona" and "Frank". (Feng Weiwei)

Related thesis information: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104118