# The Flamingos of the Camargue — The South of France
> The only place in France where the pink flamingo breeds in its thousands — a bird reserve in the marshes at Pont de Gau, best at dawn over still water. The Camargue.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/camargue/pont-de-gau-flamingos/*

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By **The Editors** — _Pont de Gau, Camargue_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

The **pink flamingo** is the emblem of the Camargue, and the delta is the one place in France where it breeds in numbers — thousands of pairs nesting on the salt lagoons each spring. There is nowhere easier to see them up close than the **Parc ornithologique du Pont de Gau**, a reserve of marsh and path just north of Saintes-Maries.

## I. The bird reserve

The **Parc ornithologique** lays paths and hides across sixty hectares of the marshes, and the flamingos stand a few metres off — feeding head-down, squabbling, lifting off in pink and black when something startles them. Herons, egrets and ducks share the water; in spring and autumn the migration brings far more besides. Go at opening, before the warmth and the crowds.

“A thousand flamingos lifting at once, pink and black against a flat grey dawn.”

From the notebook

![Flamingos wading and feeding head-down in shallow water](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1562747981-1975c624e26e?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

Feeding in the shallows — the flamingo eats with its head upside down.

## II. Why they are pink

The flamingo is born grey and turns pink on its food — the tiny **brine shrimp** and algae of the salt lagoons, rich in the pigments that colour the feathers. The saltier and shallower the water, the better they feed, which is why the delta’s salt pans and lagoons suit them so exactly. The colour is, quite literally, the taste of the Camargue.

![Flamingos flying low over a wide lagoon at dawn](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1584617206487-e6645cf9ff13?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

Dawn over the lagoons — the flamingos at their best in the first light.

## III. Beyond the reserve

The wild colonies are out on the closed lagoons of the central delta, where the birds are left in peace; the reserve is how you see them without disturbing them. Pair it with the **Digue à la mer** sea wall and the lagoons along the coast road, and you have the whole bird life of the delta in a morning.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _visit_

Getting there

On the road just north of **Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer**; come by car, and bring binoculars.

When to go

At opening, for the still water and the light; spring and autumn for the fullest birdlife.

Where to stay

A mas in the marshes nearby, to be at the water at first light.

Read next

[Aigues-Mortes and the salt](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/camargue/aigues-mortes-salt/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

### More from the _South_

[

![The plain of the Camargue](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1666782226528-24ea8565fdbd?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Camargue

#### Aigues-Mortes and the salt

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/camargue/)[

![A table in the Camargue](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1576658709998-27872694e217?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Table

#### Six tables worth the detour this spring

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/)[

![A mas in the Camargue](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624355806360-2056d8039d35?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Stays

#### Where to stay in the Camargue

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/stays/)