The incredible Pink Flamingo at the Trapani Salt Pans

Pink flamingos in Sicily are often sighted near coastal wetlands and river estuaries. One of the most evocative spectacles of the panorama of the salt pans of Trapani is to witness the pink flamingos stopping on the salt waters of the basins. These fascinating birds are easily spotted at the salt pans. Inside they find an ideal habitat for resting during the migratory route that takes them between Africa and Europe. Let's discover them together.

The migratory route and nesting at the salt pans of Trapani

Pink flamingos are large migratory birds. They move between Europe and Africa in search of climates suitable for feeding and reproduction. During this journey, they cross different regions of the Mediterranean and stop in some selected areas, where they find food and rest.

Among these few chosen places, there are the Salt Pans of Trapani and Paceco: kept inside an Oriented Nature Reserve, the salt pans protect and preserve the preferred habitats of these and other animal species that choose them every year as an intermediate stop or sedentary oasis.

Why are the salt pans the destination chosen by flamingos?

Here these magnificent specimens manage to find abundant food to refresh themselves during their journey. The increase in sightings of pink flamingos in the salt pans of Trapani and Paceco in these 50 years is the result of great efforts to protect the delicate ecosystem that sees man and nature in synergy: an ecosystem in which each has its own role and needs the other to continue living in harmony.

Why are flamingos pink

The charm of flamingos is kept in their graceful slender shape and in the color of their plumage. Flamingos take on pink coloration on their beak, legs and wings. But there are also white or brown flamingos. Why then does it happen that some flamingos are pink?

These birds feed mainly on molluscs, aquatic insects and small crustaceans, which live in abundance in the salt pans. Among these, Artemia Salina is a small crustacean that flamingos are very fond of. Artemia Salina is a shrimp that also acquires a particular reddish color through its diet, rich in carotenoids. By feeding on this little animal, the flamingo acquires the pigment from the Artemia and retains it on its wings, legs and beak.

When to see flamingos at the salt pans of Trapani

Since the salt pans are a destination for pink flamingos during their migratory movements, the best time to hope to spot them is the spring and autumn months, during which the flocks move between Europe and Africa on round trips. It could happen, however, that some of these birds have chosen the salt pans as their permanent home and for nesting, given the abundance of food and the ideal climate for reproduction. This is why, in periods other than those indicated, it would be possible to spot some flamingos (pink or not) among the salt pans.