Flamingoes land in Siberia for winter

Unexpected guests from warm countries have come to spend the winter in Russia's Tomsk region (Siberia). Local residents found four flamingos on Krivosheino Lake. The birds have most likely lost their way during migration.

One of the birds was seriously injured. "The bird has his wing broken. He must have been attacked by other birds from the flock," local huntsman Ivan Metla said.

The man caught the injured bird and took it to his banya (bath house), where he tries to take care of it. For the time being, the bird refuses from food because of the stress, ITAR-TASS reports.

Flamingos presumably lead sedentary lifestyle and inhabit warm countries. Only northern populations of the pink flamingo migrate, the Trud newspaper said.

Ornithologists currently try to explain how the four flamingoes found themselves in Siberia. The flamingoes do not migrate via Siberia, they said. Their nearest colony is in Angola. Most likely, the birds lost their way while flying, which is typical of younger birds.

Alexander Adam, an official with the regional department for environment, said that flamingoes inhabited the territory of Siberia 30 million years ago. The ecologist believes that the birds may have preserved the instincts to ancient migration routes.

A similar story took place last year in the Altai region of Russia. Several pink pelicans had to stay in the region for winter. Local ecologists did not let the birds die: the pelicans currently comfortably live in the zoo of Barnaul.