Correlates of flock size and behavior of foraging american flamingos following hurricane Gilbert in Yucatan, Mexico

Activity budgets of individual American Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber) wintering on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, were measured from mid-January through mid-March 1989 for feeding aggregations ranging in size from 1-8,000 individuals to determine potential social influences on foraging. For groups of <3,500, aggregation size was related positively (r = 0.90) to feeding head down, whereas feeding head up and alert behaviors were related negatively (r = -0.85 and r = -0.85, respectively). Overall, feeding time was higher and aggression was much lower than observed in foraging flocks of American Flamingos in Venezuela. We relate these differences to changes in food abundance and availability following Hurricane Gilbert.