Tracy Aviary has some fluffy new residents to celebrate.
The Salt Lake City institution just welcomed its first two Chilean flamingo chicks of 2026, the newest additions to its flock — or “flamboyance,” as flocks of flamingos are called.
The chicks don’t yet have names. Keepers aren’t even sure if they’re male or female. That’s because the aviary is waiting on blood testing from their eggshells to determine their gender, explained Eric Larsen, an aviculturist at the aviary.
The first hatched last weekend; the second hatched Thursday night.
“I don’t want to get too confident with the predictions, but I’m assuming probably two more [will hatch this year],” said Larsen. “We can’t say for sure.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A baby flamingo pokes their head out from under an adultÕs wing at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Eric Larson, the primary aviculturist, points out features in the flamingo enclosure at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A baby flamingo sits in their nest at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
The babies join a long line of flamingo arrivals at the Liberty Park aviary, one of only two stand-alone aviaries in the country accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, according to its website.
The downy, white-gray newcomers join a flamboyance of more than 30 pink adult birds. Flamingo babies don’t develop rosy coloring until they’re 2 to 3 years old.
Their signature shade comes entirely from diet — a fact that helps identify the adults that end up caring for the chicks.
Those adults feed the babies “crop milk,” a nutrient-rich, regurgitated substance. Producing it can drain the pigment from their feathers, leaving them noticeably paler.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A baby flamingo pokes their head out from under an adultÕs wing at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A baby flamingo pokes their head out from under an adultÕs wing at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A baby flamingo stands up in their nest at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 31, 2026.
At the aviary, though, those washed-out birds aren’t always the biological parents of the chick, Larsen said. That’s because, once an egg is laid in a nest, the keepers relocate it to an incubator machine and replace it with a dummy egg.
“The parents sit on a fake, usually plaster-filled egg,” said Larsen. “Once they hatch, we make the determination [of who the parents are] based off of who has been the most attentive to the fake egg.”
The aviary’s flamboyance has a few good parent pairs. The couple responsible for one of the newest chicks are in their 20s — “not necessarily young, spry birds,” said Larsen.
Flamingos can live up for up to 50 years in captivity. The aviary’s oldest are 38.