Phoenicopterus roseus Greater Flamingos Class: Aves. Order: Phoenicopteriformes. Family: Phoenicopteridae.

Physical Description: The greater flamingo is the tallest flamingo reaching about 3.5- 5’. The average weight of a flamingo is 8.75 lbs. Their wingspan is about 5-6’ across. They are a pink color, with long skinny legs and webbed pink feet with three toes. It has a very long neck and curved beak. Legs, under feathers and beak are the brightest pink color. Males and females look alike, although the male is a little larger. The flamingo is a filter feeder and it is uniquely adapted to feed on small The flamingo has two rows of lamallae or comb- like bristles that line the inside of its bill. It also has bristles on its tongue that help it filter food out of the water.

Diet in the Wild: Plankton, tiny fish, small shrimp, mollusks, fly larvae, insects, worms, seeds, blue-green algae, and other vegetation

Diet at the Zoo: flamingo chow, krill

Habitat & Range: Northwest and East Africa, Middle East, India. Flamingos are found in warm, watery regions. They favor environments like estuaries, mudflats, coastal lagoons, and saline or alkaline lakes.

Life Span: 20-30 years

Perils in the wild: turkey vultures, foxes, badgers, wild boars, raccoons, jaguars, and margays. Yellow- legged gulls and other birds will prey on eggs and flightless young. Humans will also hunt flamingos for meat or for their eggs.

Physical Adaptations:  Their bent bills allow them to feed on small organisms.  In muddy flats or shallow water, they use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the bottom. They then bury their bills, or even their entire heads, and suck up both mud and water to access the tasty morsels within. A flamingo's beak has a filter-like structure to remove food from the water before the liquid is expelled.  Large, webbed feet allow the flamingo to live in very muddy terrain

Behavioral Adaptations:  Diurnal  Live in colonies or flocks  They live in colonies of up to 200,000 individuals for protection. They find safety in numbers, which helps to protect individual birds from predators while their heads are down in the mud.  They spend most of the day feeding. When an area no longer provides enough food, the flamingos will migrate to another location at night.  Flamingos are very skittish and will fly away if they are disturbed. 09/04/2012

 They are also very vocal and have a number of different calls. Breeding pairs have location calls to help locate each other and alarm calls are used to warn the group of danger.  When flamingos fly in large groups they are often mistaken for geese because of the load honking sound they make. The chicks even make calls while they are in the egg that their parents learn to recognize.

Reproduction and Development:  Greater flamingos breed while gathered in groups.  Male and female flamingos court each other with a variety of display behaviors that involve head movements, wing displays and vocalizations. Male and female pairs usually mate for life.  Once mating is complete, a pair takes turns incubating their single egg (possibly 2) on a foot tall mound of mud by folding their long legs and straddling the nest for 21-37 days, or until hatched  Young flamingos are born gray and white and have a straight bill.  After the chick first hatches they are fed a substance called "crop milk" which comes from the parents' upper digestive tract. Either parent can feed with crop milk; and other flamingos can act as foster feeders. The chicks fledge in about 70-75 days.  Chicks won't reach their full adult size for 1 ½ to 2 years and they won't have adult plumage for 2-4 years. They turn pink at about 2 years old.  In years when wetlands and pools are dry and food is scarce, flamingoes may not breed.

Additional Information:  Shrimplike crustaceans are responsible for the flamingo's pink color. The birds pale in captivity unless their diet is supplemented. In the wild, flamingos won’t turn pink until they are 1-2 years old.  The flamingo's color is partly determined by its diet. Some of the food the flamingo eats contains carotenoid pigments. These pigments are broken down in the liver and are then deposited into the feathers, skin, and egg yolk of the flamingo.  Flamingo comes from the Latin word “flame”  In Egypt, large numbers of greater flamingos are shot or captured to be sold in markets, and egg collection remains a threat in some areas, such as in Algeria.

Conservation Status: Least Concern

Conservation Efforts: The greater flamingo is protected under a range of international legislation, and a variety of conservation initiatives are underway for the species. These include management of colonies in France and Spain, to increase suitable nesting sites, as well as a satellite tracking program in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, and the removal of sand polluted with lead shot at a salt lake in Cyprus. The greater flamingo breeds quite well in captivity and breeding populations are currently maintained at various locations.

Sources:  Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens  http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/phoenicopteridae/phoenicopterus_ruber.htm  National Geographic  http://www.theanimalfiles.com/birds/flamingos/greater_flamingo.html  http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/flamingo.htm  09/04/2012