Photo: Oregon ZooPORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Oregon Zoo visitors will have their first chance to see 21 new flamingos on Saturday.
The flamingos come from the San Antonio Zoo and have spent the last couple of weeks getting to know their new aviary.
They have been eating a specialized diet that contains the algae they need, and they'll scoop food out of a lagoon in the same way they do in the wild: dipping their beaks upside-down into the water and sweeping them back and forth to filter food.
Flamingos have not been part of the Oregon Zoo since the early 1950s when three flamingos were given to the zoo by the Meier & Frank Co.
This species of flamingo, called the lesser flamingo, is the smallest of all flamingos and typically stands nearly 3' tall while weighing 3 to 6 pounds. At this point, all of the flamingos are males, but zoo officials said they hope to bring in females to begin a reproductive program in the future.
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