


WHAT FAVOURS FLAMINGOS IN LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK Flocks of Flamingos in Lake Nakuru National Park These spectacular birds not only feed in saline waters, but they can also choose to build nest mounds on evaporate pavements. Lesser flamingos build nesting platforms on the pavement in the more central parts of the lake. Lake Natron is the dominant evaporate, is a major breeding ground for flamingos in East Africa and is the only regular breeding site for the lesser flamingo in Africa. These bright pink waders feed and breed in mesohaline rift lake waters where cyanobacteria blooms can be so dense that a Secchi disc disappears within a few centimeters of the lake’s water surface. Flamingo-like ancestors, which would give rise to modern ducks, even left traces in the shallow saline mudflats of Eocene soda lake sediments that define the saline two flamingo species gather in considerable numbers in Lake Nakuru and a few other East African rift lakes, namely, the greater and the lesser flamingoes. The greater flamingos are taller and darker in color- their shade of pink well as the lesser flamingos are shorter and lighter in color.įlamingos (Aves, Phoenicopterid) are an ancient lineage of long-legged, microphagous, colonial wading birds. The flamingo population has earned the lake and national park the slogan, “the greatest bird spectacle on earth’ ’On the other hand flamingos in lake Nakuru national park are generally described into two species namely the lesser and greater flamingo and all these species can be found in Lake Nakuru National Park. The national park and lake are most renowned for the tens of thousands of flamingos which can reach over a million at their peak. Nakuru is an alkaline lake, which is what further draws birds and wildlife to its shores. Why Lake Nakuru National Park Famous for Flamingos : Lake Nakuru national park was established as a national park in 1961, Lake Nakuru is a remarkable national park in Kenya situated in the central region of Kenya, about 140km (90 miles) north west of Nairobi, the Nakuru district of the rift valley province. The two species of flamingo you will see in Kenya are the pink, small Lesser Flamingo and the whiter coloured Greater Flamingo who stands at about twice the height! They also like to hang out with the Pelicans and 450 other bird species, so it really is a twitcher’s paradise.Why Lake Nakuru National Park Famous for Flamingos WHY LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK FAMOUS FOR FLAMINGOS

Planning your flamingo safari in the dry season of January and February, gives you a higher chance of seeing them in their splendour at Lake Nakuru, but as always with natural wonders, there’s no guarantee which adds an element of anticipation and magic. The alkalinity of the lake decreases with higher rainfall, resulting in less algae food for the flamingos, so they migrate to nearby lakes in Kenya, like Elementaita and Bogoria. The Great Lakes Region of the Great Rift Valley has warm, shallow, alkaline waters that are harmful for us to touch, but are teeming with microscopic life – algae and shrimp – that the flamingos eat and give their normally white feathers a pink colouring! Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya is a protected reserve because of the thousands of flamingos that call it home. Flamingos are very sociable, so a flamingo safari is unlike anything else because of the sheer scale of thousands of pink birds, standing on one leg and looking as if they are temporarily walking on water as they take off for flight.
