A COSTA Blanca holiday hotspot was graced with heartwarming scenes as dozens of baby flamingos were seen migrating away from the lagoons where they were born.

Endearing footage shows the weeks-old chicks wading through the water in Torrevieja, near Alicante, as they spread out across the area ahead of the summer heat.

According to climatologists from the Torrevieja-based Proyecto Mastral, the area is home to between 14,000 and 18,000 flamingos, with around half that number of eggs hatching into chicks each year.

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¡Allá van! La migración de los pollos de flamenco común en la laguna de #Torrevieja consiste en un desplazamiento de unos dos kilómetros desde su lugar de nacimiento en la mota salinera (en el centro) hasta zonas como Lo Reche, entre la rambla de La Fayona y Los Montesinos. ?? pic.twitter.com/Fy3t2ks2pO

The Mastral group said in a post on X: “The migration of common flamingo chicks in the Torrevieja lagoon involves travelling about two kilometres from their nesting site to areas such as Lo Reche, between the La Fayona streambed and Los Montesinos.

“It has been shown that the chicks can successfully complete the journey by both walking and swimming.”

The group added: “Flamingos have repeated this strategy every breeding season, except in 2020, when they remained on the salt embankment throughout the season.”

The greater flamingo is one of the Mediterranean’s most recognisable bird species and has become a familiar sight along Spain’s coastline, particularly in wetlands, salt flats and protected lagoons.

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The birds are highly social, living and breeding in vast colonies that can number in the thousands.

Nesting pairs build distinctive cone-shaped mud mounds, where they usually lay a single egg each spring.

Newly hatched chicks spend their first few weeks in the nesting colonies before gradually venturing further afield in large groups, as adults collectively watch over them.

Their trademark pink colouring does not develop until later in life, and comes from pigments found in the algae and tiny crustaceans they eat.

Young flamingos are instead born with grey-white plumage and dark legs, only acquiring their vibrant feathers as they mature.

The wetlands around Torrevieja form part of one of Spain’s most important habitats for migratory birds, providing a crucial refuge from rising temperatures during the summer months.
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