The discovery demonstrates the compatibility between the natural environment and the traditional use of salt flamingoes.
The technical staff of the Ses Salines Natural Park of Eivissa and Formentera have detected, for the first time, an attempt at nesting by the colony of flamingos in the protected natural space. The discovery was made during a study of nesting birds in the wetlands of the park and, while monitoring was being carried out, flamingo movements were already detected on some of the salt marshes, until this considerable nesting attempt was detected this week.

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Specifically, 42 flamingo nests have been detected without laying, which indicates, despite the fact that it was not a successful breeding attempt, that Ses Salines can be consolidated as a breeding area for this bird.

The nesting attempt comes at a time when the colony is consolidating in the highest numbers ever recorded. For the past two years, the annual census has identified a thousand birds.

The ideal breeding areas for waterbirds, including flamingos, correspond to the traditional salt marshes, as has been confirmed in the nesting study. Therefore, it is considered that the news shows that these birds have found tranquillity and compatibility in an area of the Natural Park and that this is compatible with the traditional salt activity.

In fact, there are breeding colonies of flamingos very close by, specifically in the Salinas de Santa Pola (Alicante) or the pink lagoon of the Natural Park of the Mata and Torrevieja lagoons, in the same province. One factor to take into account may be that the drought suffered by some wetlands on the peninsula has favoured the flamingos frequenting and breeding in saline areas, which are always provided with water.

In any case, the technicians consider that a very small fraction of the colony has tried to reproduce and stress the need for intensive monitoring during the next breeding period.

The Natural Park stresses the need not to enter the restricted areas for the birds’ peace and quiet, and to avoid disturbance and unnecessary visits for observation or photography in the interests of the conservation of the species and its welfare.