Time is running out to see flamingos in their only Connecticut location this summer: The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. The Aquarium’s exclusive summer exhibit of the popular birds ends on Labor Day (Sept. 4). The flamingos have been standing – often, on one leg – in the aviary on the Aquarium’s riverfront courtyard since Memorial Day weekend. The exhibit is free with Aquarium admission.
Displayed at The Maritime Aquarium are six Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis), a larger species – 4 to 5 feet tall – native to southern South America. They’re distinguished from other flamingo species by their paler plumage, by the downward half of their bills being black, and by their greyish legs with notably pink “knees.” (Although, technically, what looks like their knees are really their “ankles.”)
Chilean flamingos are considered to be “Near Threatened,” with humans representing their main threat because of hunting, egg harvesting and by the loss of – and changes to – their natural habitats. After Labor Day, the Aquarium’s birds will return to a zoo in Louisiana.
Get details about all of the Aquarium’s summer offerings – including cruises onto Long Island Sound, a new expanded jellyfish area, and the IMAX movie “Amazon Adventure” – at www.maritimeaquarium.org.
Connecticut Travel 
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