Considered a "near threatened" animal by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Chilean flamingo is known (I am told apocryphally) as one of the more personality-laden representatives of the species. Nowhere is that more clear than in the demeanor of one of the SF Zoo's newest residents, a chick who as you can see from the photo above is completely over whatever it is that you think you are up to.

According to the SF Zoo, their first flamingo chick of the season was born on September 17, and has already doubled in size. The second one hatched last weekend, and given the number of eggs their adult flamingos have laid more are likely to follow throughout their breeding season, which runs through October.

Speaking of the breeding season, here's some hot Chilean flamingo sex prose, via Wikipedia: "During breeding season, males and females display a variety of behaviors to attract mates, including head flagging — swiveling their heads from side-to-side in tandem — and wing salutes, where the wings are repeatedly opened and closed."

Once the wing salutes, head wagging, and inevitable shagging reaches its natural conclusion, "Males and females cooperate in building a pillar-shaped mud nest, and both incubate the egg laid by the female...Both male and female flamingos can produce a nutritious milk-like substance in their crop gland to feed their young." In other words, flamingo dads are more involved parents than many of ours were.

And before you start spreading paternity rumors based on the babies' lack of resemblance to their parents, let the Zoo straighten you out: Baby flamingos, they say, are all born with that fluffy white and gray covering, which they lose by the time they're three years old. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo explains further, saying that the adult flamingos' "pink coloring comes from a carotenoid pigment consumed through its food. In most captive populations this pink color must be artificially added to the diet, or else these birds would appear a significantly duller color."

"Duller," eh? Who you calling "duller"?????