A flamingo chick born late last month at the San Diego Zoo is on display and being cared for by its two first-time dads.
The chick, technically a "lesser flamingo," which are native to western India and sub-Saharan Africa, is on display now at the Safari Park in Escondido.
Like all members of its species, the chick was born with gray feathers and is the size of a tennis ball. Zoo officials say it's thriving in the care of its foster parents.
Earlier this year, the zoo gave the two dads, which were already exhibiting nesting behavior, a fake egg to take care of so they wouldn't interfere with other nests. Eventually, they replaced the fake with a fertile egg, which eventually hatched on Aug. 25.
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"The fertile egg was laid by a pair of birds who have produced fertile eggs within the last few years," zoo spokeswoman Emily Senninger told NBC 7. "The hope was by giving their first egg to fosters, this pair would lay a second egg."
It's impossible to know for sure whether same-sex flamingos are aware of each others' gender, the spokeswoman said, "but we do believe they know the difference."
Flamingo chicks feed on "crop milk," which comes from a parent's upper digestive tract, before weening off it at about 2 months of age.
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Two flamingos of the same gender rearing the chick are not unheard of, according to experts.
"They aren't abundantly common to our knowledge, but same-sex pairings are seen more often in several species —flamingos being one of them," Senninger told NBC 7. "This is something that has been documented in zoos as well as in the wild."
It's not clear what the chick's sex is yet.
