Flamingo Preservation

Conservation of the Pink Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) in the Yucatan Peninsula 

This program began in 1999 with six principal objectives:

• Protection of the Flamingos’ nesting zones
• Securing food supply zones for these birds
• Guarantee of freshwater flow to zones of habitation
• Monitoring birth rates and natural history of the young flamingos until they reproduce
• Studying the Flamingo’s survival and migrant movements
• Promoting the importance of protection of flamingos among the coastal inhabitatns of the State of Yucatan

To study about the survival and migrant movements, we make it our goal to band 8% of the annual population of flamingo chicks.

This procedure involves placing a light plastic ring on the leg of each flamingo chick with a unique four letter code. The rings can be read through a telescope and be reported to our website to be registered on the database. We also do an annual aerial census over all of the Yucatan coast and an area north of Campeche, as well as a monthly census by boat in the interior of the Ria Lagartos and Ria Celestun Reserves of the Biosphere.

Due to the need for a proper nesting island, in 2003 the Punta Mecoh nesting zone was rehabilitated, resulting in the production of 12,000 flamingos in 2005. Hurricane Wilma caused damage to this island, and we have been working since 2007 to restore it, changing its orientation to reduce the wind and tides effects, as well as making barriers to reduce erosion.