Nineteen Pink Flamingo chicks recently hatched at Zoo Vienna in Austria, while still more eggs are being incubated by the parents. The zoo has been noted for successfully rearing flamingos for many years.

"The youngest birds are still in the nest under the wings of their parents, who alternatively keep the chicks warm and feed them with a high-energy liquid from their crop. The bigger birds have already left the nest and are being looked after in a group, similar to a kindergarten," Zoo Director Dagmar Schratter explains, Zoo Borns reported. 

"The baby flamingos are gray. In the wild, this unobtrusive plumage protects the little ones better from predators, but in three years' time their feathers will be just as pink as their parents'," he added.

The chicks are different ages since not all of them hatch at the same time. The first chicks of the year were hatched on June 7.

Pink flamingos get their pink and orange color from carotenoid pigments found in algae and crustaceans which they filter out of the water using their beaks when they live in a natural habitat. But when they are raised by humans, the flamingos should be fed with foods that are high in these pigments to avoid very pale pink feathers.

Pink or Greater Flamingos are found from West Africa through the Mediterranean, Europe, South West and South Asia, and in sub-Saharan Africa. There are about 20,000 breeding pairs in Europe wherein the majority living in the Camargue region in France.