Mon May 21, 12:03 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britainanimalsgay;_ylt=AtLT.SQSS2gqGMwF2L4EZ0ntiBIF
LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned
chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a
British conservation organisation said Monday.
Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even
chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at
the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near
Bristol.
But their egg-sitting prowess made them the top choice for taking
an unhatched egg under their wings when one of the Greater Flamingo
nests was abandoned.
The couple, together for six years, can feed chicks by producing
milk in their throats.
"Fernando and Carlos are a same sex couple who have been known to
steal other flamingos' eggs by chasing them off their nest because
they wanted to rear them themselves," said WWT spokeswoman Jane
Waghorn.
"They were rather good at sitting on eggs and hatching them so last
week, when a nest was abandoned, it seemed like a good idea to make
them surrogate parents."
Gay flamingos are not uncommon, she added.
"If there aren't enough females or they don't hit it off with them,
they will pair off with other males," she said.
