1:35 PMUPDATED 2:39 PM

Elderly Flamingo Matriarch, Betty, Dies At Age 67

Jacob Fenston | https://twitter.com/JacobFenston



Betty the flamingo came to the National Zoo in 1976.

Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Zoo

When Betty arrived in D.C., the bright pink newcomer to the National Zoo was already a mature bird: at age 22, she was fast approaching the average lifespan of a captive flamingo, 26 years. ... The year was 1976. Gerald Ford was president; Marion Barry was a young council member serving on the first elected D.C. Council in modern history.

But Betty would go on to live another five-plus decades at the zoo, observed at the Bird House by generations of Washingtonians. When she passed away last week, 67-year-old Betty was the oldest Caribbean flamingo in North America, according to the zoo.

Sara Hallager, curator of birds at the National Zoo, says Betty was a healthy old bird. “As any geriatric animal would, she probably had some stiff joints going on, but remarkably she had no issues.” ... Hallager remembers Betty not just for her longevity, but for the matriarchal role she played within the zoo’s flock — or flamboyance — of roughly 70 flamingos. ... “It is hard in a flock of that size to be able to differentiate the birds as individuals,” Hallager admits, but says Betty stood out.



It’s hard to differentiate the individuals in a flamboyance of flamingos. Betty is number 89.
Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Zoo

Betty had only one chick of her own at the zoo, but fostered many chicks over the years. Zookeepers aid flamingo reproduction by putting their eggs in incubators, and letting the birds roost on replica eggs. When the eggs in the incubator are ready to hatch, they are placed with experienced flamingo parents, to boost the odds of chick survival. Betty helped rear many a young flamingo chick.

{snip}

This story was updated to add information from Felicity Arengo.