With opening day of the Major League Baseball season almost here, Walt Disney World is doing something very interesting to merge the world of the baseball diamond and some of the animals found over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They are using clay from the pitcher’s mound at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to build flamingo nests and the results have been a homerun.
An unlikely collaboration between two teams of Walt Disney World cast members has brought clay from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to the flamingos at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The result was an unprecedented breeding season for the lesser flamingos at the park.
The pitcher's mound at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
The lesser flamingos at Disney’s Animal Kingdom have been building nests seasonally near the Tree of Life on Discovery Island since 2003. However, their breeding results have not been nearly as successful as those of their greater flamingo cousins on Kilimanjaro Safaris. In the 20 years before the 2022 breeding season, lesser flamingos, which are one of the most threatened species of flamingos due to habitat loss and habitat destruction, had only hatched one chick at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Flamingos typically nest on the ground and build tall mounds from dirt and mud to keep their eggs elevated and safe from water and predators. Members of the animal care team wondered what would happen if they enhanced the mud in the nesting area with baseball clay. That question led to a collaboration with the Sportscape team at ESPN Wide World of Sports, who use a very specific mixture to create the clay for baseball and softball fields.
“Baseball clay can differ depending on where you play and the weather conditions in your area, but it’s basically a mixture of sand and clay,” said field manager Tommy of the Sportscape team. “Our mixture at ESPN Wide World of Sports is roughly 78 percent sand, a little silt and nine percent clay. Here in Florida, we look for our clay to perk – or dry – as fast as possible given the amount of rain and sun we receive, and the demand of all of the events we host.”
Baseball clay is very malleable when wet, but once it sits in direct sunlight, it bakes and becomes rock solid.As it turns out, this was exactly what the flamingos needed for their nests.
“After we introduced the new clay during last year’s breeding season, the flamingos began building bigger and better nests than we had ever seen,” said animal manager Jamie of Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment.
Animal manager Jamie of Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment
Soon after the introduction of the new clay, the flamingos laid seven eggs, resulting in the hatching of a new chick named Sandy.
“This is the first lesser flamingo chick we’ve had growing up on Discovery Island and the most productive breeding season to date!” Jamie said. “Having the entire flock engaged in breeding behaviors and multiple pairs working on nests and laying eggs helps us rate the success of the baseball clay.”
Sandy, the lesser flamingo chick
The collaboration also left Tommy with a new interest in the beautiful birds over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
“I am a flamingo person now. I have flamingo lights in my office and flamingo pictures from the animal care team,” he said. “It was a bird I probably never gave a second thought to, but after working with the animal keepers at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it’s really piqued my interest!”
Field manager Tommy of the Sportscape team
And with the Tampa Bay Rays having played part of their Spring Training at the Wide World of Sports Complex, it’s possible the very clay used for these new flamingo nests was once stood on by an MLB pitcher.
You can catch more on Sandy and some of the cast members who made all of this possible on National Geographic’s Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, airing Friday nights at 10/9c and streaming on Disney+.