Gay flamingos pick up chick

[LiberalNation]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070521...KdXebnVo8DW7oF

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.

[82Marine89]

"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.

Such an unfortunate choice of words.

[MtnBiker]

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.

Do the flamingo have sex with each other?

[LiberalNation]

Well I'd assume otherwise they wouldn't be calling them gay.

[MtnBiker]

Big pink birds with their name begining with flam, that's a real shocker.

[LiberalNation]

Well it's less shocking then the penguins I'd guess but still shocking to people who think being gay is a choice. Do animals have free will and choice.

[Guernicaa]

LN your making a really good point right now, but I don't think that our conservative crew here can handle natural evidence...so it's safe to assume that you won't find any educated responses to something science is telling us again and again.

Unfortunately, when you’re Christian and Republican, science and observation do not exist. The only thing you need to know is your handy book of 2,000 year old fairy tales.

[stephanie]

LN your making a really good point right now, but I don't think that our conservative crew here can handle natural evidence...so it's safe to assume that you won't find any educated responses to something science is telling us again and again.

Unfortunately, when you’re Christian and Republican, science and observation do not exist. The only thing you need to know is your handy book of 2,000 year old fairy tales.

[nevadamedic]

[MtnBiker]

Well it's less shocking then the penguins I'd guess but still shocking to people who think being gay is a choice. Do animals have free will and choice.

Are you attempting to equate human behavior with animal behavior? Well if you are making that case perhaps we should model other behaviors in the animal kingdom. You can come over and pick up some tips from my labrador on how he greets other dogs.