Incredible pink phoenixes returned to Kyiv

The Kyiv Zoo welcomed pink flamingos, also called phoenixes. The birds will be fed a special dish with vitamin and mineral supplements. This is stated in the message of KMA on the Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s largest zoo flock of pink flamingos has returned to its summer lake lands. For the birds’ comfort, it was decided to recreate the natural conditions of the Black Sea estuaries.

New comfortable rooms were arranged for the incredible guests. KyivZoo employees made areas with grass lawns, bushes and sandy clay beaches, as well as created new nesting areas.

The flamingos are fed with the Black Sea mix, which is especially useful for them, including minced meat and fish, daphnia crustaceans, gammarus, ground dandelion and lettuce leaves, cereal flour and vitamin and mineral supplements.

KyivZoo ticket offices are open

• on Monday – from 12:00 to 17:00
• from Tuesday to Sunday – from 10:00 to 17:00
• stay on the territory – until 18:30

The KMA urged people to take care of their own safety, be cautious and go to the shelter when the air raid alarm sounds.

Where do pink flamingos live

Pink flamingos are considered one of the most common birds of the Flamingo family. In Ukraine, it is a rather rare migratory species, with only one known nesting record.

Single birds or small groups are found in southern Ukraine every year. In 2017, a nesting was recorded in the Kherson region on Sivash. In early May 2020, migratory birds were also recorded at the Tiligul Estuary on the border of Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. At least 35 pink-winged flamingos arrived at the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park in spring 2023.

The bird is the size of a white stork. It weighs between 2 and 4 kg, is 125-145 cm long, and its wingspan can reach 140-165 cm.

In Europe, they nest in Spain and southern France. The breeding area also covers Africa (on the lakes of Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Mauritania, in the south of the continent; on the Cape Verde Islands) and large areas of Asia (Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, India).

These birds inhabit marine lagoons and estuaries, as well as large saltwater lakes. Their diet consists of small crustaceans, fly larvae, and mollusks. These birds also eat unicellular algae Aphanothece sabina and various seeds. The presence of certain plants in their diet, in particular red algae and crustaceans, provides the birds with a pink colour.

In the wild, flamingos usually live from 30 to 40 years. Zoologists have also recorded rare cases of life expectancy of up to 70 years or more.
The Easter eggs in Kyiv that were saved from shelling will be displayed at an exhibition.

Easter eggs saved from shelling in Kyiv to be exhibited.