Color Me Pink And Call Me FlamingoFlamingos in the Caribbean come to Bonaire to do their business (and I don’t mean banking). It is here that these lucky clucks enjoy a large protected area in which to frolic (and I don’t mean enjoy the playgrounds). On the south end of the island are the Pekelmeer salt flats, and the 137.5 acre Bonaire flamingo reserve, one of only four breeding grounds found in the world. That’s right- in case you missed my subtle innuendo, I was talking about flamingos gettin’ it on.
This is where these birds give common necking a twist. Their dazzling synchronized performances would put any figure skating couple to shame. The mating ritual of neck-twists, head bobbing and swinging is just a bit of foreplay prior to the main event (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). A flocking good time of plentiful pink proportions awaits. An orgy of 15,000 hot pink birds comes to flock together.
It's not a free-for-all though, as the surprisingly ethical and principled flamingos chose only one partner with which to mate. This happily expecting couple shares the family chores of nest building by the muddy mouthful. They also share the parental responsibilities of incubating their egg and feeding their baby once the little flamingette (or “flamingicito” in Spanish) has hatched. (note- “flamingette” and “flamingicito” may not be real words. The author reserves the right to create words for dramatic or comic effect. Deal with it.)
Flamingos take their appearance seriously. Even male flamingos have a good dose of metro-sexual in them; a good chunk of their day is spent primping, grooming, and preening as though they’re making a guest appearance on “Jersey Shore”. "Do these feathers make my tail look fat?" is often heard throughout the Bonaire flamingo reserve.
Caribbean Flamingos have long slender necks, twiggy legs that bend backwards, a black bill, pink feathers and eyes bigger than their brains, which are the size of a pea. In fact, their tiny brains are what would make them ideal candidates for guest appearances on “Jersey Shore” as mentioned above.
Around the world, flamingos are dangerously close to extinction. Because of this, the Bonaire flamingo reserve is completely off-limits to people. However, if you are a flamingo enthusiast, (I’m sure they exist) there are areas on Bonaire where you can get fairly close. In Washington Slagbaii Park (north island) there are often Flamingos posing for photos in Gotomeer Lake. On the South end of the island you can occasionally see the flamingos flying in a V formation towards Venezuela as the sun sets. It has not yet been scientifically proven that the V stands for Venezuela. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m one of the few to make this somewhat irrelevant observation.
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