Do you remember when you first started school? Some of the most important lessons taught in those formative years were to share and play nicely with others. These are two of the behaviors we are currently working on with our 8-month-old flock of Caribbean flamingos living in the San Diego Zoo’s Urban Jungle.

We have 12 young birds in our flock: 5 females and 7 males. The birds are easy to tell apart because the male birds wear their number bands on the right leg and the female birds wear their number bands on the left leg. Each bird is given a three-digit number right after hatching at the Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center. This number allows us to keep track of the bird’s activity during its life span, which happens to be 50 years in zoos and about 40 years in the wild.

Number 237 is a male bird named Gobbles. When you call his name, he answers back, sounding just like the gobble of a turkey! Number 242 is a male bird named Butters; he “melts” when his favorite trainer is around. All 12 birds have distinctive personalities that continue to emerge as time goes on. Keep in mind that these birds are only 8 months old, but they are already standing between 3 and 4 feet (0.9 and 1.2 meters) tall. They will continue to mature over the next 5 years, eventually standing between 5 and 6 feet (1.5 and1.8 meters) tall. And that is, frankly, why we are paying close attention to their manners now!

It is easy to identify their young ages right now because their feathers are mostly white. The pink coloration comes from the food they eat and will collect in the feathers over time. Once they reach maturity, these birds will be a bright, beautiful pink color. I’m sure you are wondering where the pink color comes from? In the wild, the Caribbean flamingos eat shrimp and krill; these crustaceans have carotenoids or organic pigments that help to change the color of the feathers on the birds. At the Zoo, we feed them a grain mixture called flamingo pellets that contains the organic pigment as well.

If you would like to meet our Caribbean kindergarten flock and play in their sandbox (think of it as recess), we are offering a new Zoo adventure called Backstage Pass. Tickets are sold daily at the Zoo’s main entrance, or you can purchase them in advance online. This 1½-hour animal adventure begins at 1 p.m. We will introduce you to our Zoo family, including our flamingos, and leave you with memories that will last a lifetime!

Maureen O. Duryee is a senior animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Clouded Leopard: Have Box, Will Travel.