Rare black flamingo reappears in Cyprus

NICOSIA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A very rare black female flamingo has returned to a marshland area in the south of Cyprus for the fifth time in seven years, an environmental specialist said on Thursday.

Thomas Hadjikyriakou, the manager of the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre, who has been tracking the visits of the bird, said it reappeared this year at the Akrotiri Salt Lake on its 10th birthday.

He named the bird Melani (meaning black in Greek) and explained that the bird suffers from "melanism", a genetic disorder that turns its feathers dark brown or black. He said that Melani is presumably the only black flamingo in the world.

Melani first appeared at the Akrotiri marshland in 2015, and since then Hadjikyriakou reported every appearance of the bird in the area. He estimates that the bird was three years old at the time of its first visit.

Hadjikyriakou invited people to visit the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre to see the rare bird, but warned that Melani and its habitat should not be disturbed.

"Very few people have been fortunate enough to lay eyes on her, so for her to return again, on her 10th birthday, and seeing she is doing well is wonderful," he said.

Hadjikyriakou said the bird had also been spotted in Israel.

Flamingos arrive in Cyprus usually in October and stay until February, but Melani arrived early this year. Hadjikyriakos said no one can tell how long the bird will stay.

There are thousands of flamingos flocking every year at the Akrotiri and the Larnaca Salt Lake, with the latter located about 70 kilometers to the northeast. They feed on brine shrimps and plankton.

Some of them stay in Cyprus all the year round if conditions are favorable.