FLAMINGOS

flamingos - [flamingos]
фламинго

greater flamingo - [ˈgreɪtə fləˈmɪŋgəʊ]

большой фламинго

lesser flamingo - [ˈlesə fləˈmɪŋgəʊ]

малый фламинго
Chilean flamingo - [ˈʧɪlɪən fləˈmɪŋgəʊ]
Чилийский
фламинго

James's flamingo - [ʤeɪmz'es flə

фламинго Джеймса ˈmɪŋgəʊ]

Andean flamingo - [ænˈdiːən fləˈmɪŋgəʊ]

Андский фламинго
American flamingo [əˈmerɪkən flə
- Американский ˈmɪŋgəʊ]
фламинго
Flamingos
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family
Phoenicopteridae, the only bird family in the order
Phoenicopteriformes. Four flamingo species are distributed
throughout the Americas, including the Caribbean, and two species
are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Flamingos usually stand on one leg, with the other being tucked
beneath the body. The reason for this behaviour is not fully
understood. One theory is that standing on one leg allows the birds
to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant
amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behaviour also
takes place in warm water and is also observed in birds that do not
typically stand in water. An alternative theory is that standing on
one leg reduces the energy expenditure for producing muscular
effort to stand and balance on one leg. A study on cadavers showed
that the one-legged pose could be held without any muscle activity,
while living flamingos demonstrate substantially less body sway in a
one-legged posture. As well as standing in the water, flamingos may
stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom.

Flamingos are capable flyers, and flamingos in captivity often

require wing clipping to prevent escape. A pair of African flamingos
which had not yet had their wings clipped escaped from the Wichita,
Kansas zoo in 2005. One was spotted in Texas 14 years later. It had
been seen previously by birders in Texas, Wisconsin and Louisiana.
Young flamingos hatch with grayish-red plumage, but adults range
from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-
carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy
flamingo is more vibrantly colored, thus a more desirable mate; a
white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or
malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; they may
turn a pale pink if they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to
the wild.

The greater flamingo is the tallest of the six different species of

flamingos, standing at 3.9 to 4.7 feet with a weight up to 7.7
pounds, and the shortest flamingo species (the lesser) has a height
of 2.6 feet and weighs 5.5 pounds. Flamingos can have a wingspan
as small as 37 inches to as big as 59 inches.

Flamingoes can open their bills by raising the upper jaw as well as
by dropping the lower.

Flamingos filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae as well

as insect larvae, small insects, mollusks and crustaceans making
them omnivores. Their bills are specially adapted to separate mud
and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down.
The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called
lamellae, which line the mandibles, and the large, rough-surfaced
tongue. The pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from
American flamingos are a brighter red color because of the beta
carotene availability in their food while the lesser flamingos are a
paler pink due to ingesting a smaller amount of this pigment. These
carotenoids are broken down into pigments by liver enzymes. The
source of this varies by species, and affects the color saturation.
Flamingos whose sole diet is blue-green algae are darker than those
that get it second-hand by eating animals that have digested blue-
green algae).

Flamingos are very social birds; they live in colonies whose

population can number in the thousands. These large colonies are
believed to serve three purposes for the flamingos: avoiding
predators, maximizing food intake, and using scarcely suitable
nesting sites more efficiently. Before breeding, flamingo colonies
split into breeding groups of about 15 to 50 birds. Both males and
females in these groups perform synchronized ritual displays. The
members of a group stand together and display to each other by
stretching their necks upwards, then uttering calls while head-
flagging, and then flapping their wings. The displays do not seem
directed towards an individual, but occur randomly. These displays
stimulate "synchronous nesting" (see below) and help pair up those
birds that do not already have mates.
Greater flamingo
The greater flamingo is the most widespread and largest species of
the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the
Middle East, and in southern Europe.

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo,

averaging 110–150 cm tall and weighing 2–4 kg. The largest male
flamingos have been recorded at up to 187 cm tall and 4.5 kg.

Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red
and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is
pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The
call is a goose-like honking.

Chicks are covered in gray fluffy down. Subadult flamingos are paler
with dark legs. Adults feeding chicks also become paler, but retain
the bright pink legs. The coloration comes from the carotenoid
pigments in the organisms that live in their feeding grounds.
Secretions of the uropygial gland also contain carotenoids. During
the breeding season, greater flamingos increase the frequency of
their spreading uropygial secretions over their feathers and thereby
enhance their color. This cosmetic use of uropygial secretions has
been described as applying "make-up".
Lesser flamingo
The lesser flamingo is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan
Africa and northwestern India. Birds are occasionally reported from
further north, but these are generally considered vagrants.

The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a

tall and large bird by most standards. The species can weigh from
1.2 to 2.7 kg. The standing height is around 80 to 90 cm. The total
length (from beak to tail) and wingspan are in the same range of
measurements, from 90 to 105 cm. Most of the plumage is pinkish
white. The clearest difference between this species and the greater
flamingo, the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much
more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the
species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in
height.

The lesser flamingo may be the most numerous species of flamingo,

with a population that (at its peak) probably numbered up to two
million individual birds. This species feeds primarily on Spirulina,
algae which grow only in very alkaline lakes. Presence of flamingo
groups near water bodies is indication of sodic alkaline water which
is not suitable for irrigation use. Although blue-green in colour, the
algae contain the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their
pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised for filtering tiny food items.
Chilean flamingo
The Chilean flamingo is a species of large flamingo at 110–130 cm
closely related to American flamingo and greater flamingo, with
which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed
as near threatened by the IUCN.

It breeds in South America from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and

Argentina and east to Brazil; it has been introduced into the
Netherlands. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky-white egg on a
mud mound.

These flamingos are mainly restricted to salt lagoons and soda lakes
but these areas are vulnerable to habitat loss and water pollution.

The plumage is pinker than the slightly larger greater flamingo, but
less so than the Caribbean flamingo. It can be differentiated from
these species by its grayish legs with pink joints (tibiotarsal
articulation), and also by the larger amount of black on the bill
(more than half). Young chicks may have no sign of pink coloring
whatsoever, but instead remain gray.

The Chilean flamingo's bill is equipped with comb-like structures that

enable it to filter food—mainly algae and plankton—from the water
of the coastal mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, and salt lakes where it
lives.
James's flamingo
James's flamingo, also known as the puna flamingo, is a species of
flamingo that populates the high altitudes of Andean plateaus of
Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina.

It is named for Harry Berkeley James, a British naturalist who

studied the bird. James's flamingo is closely related to the Andean
flamingo, and the two make up the genus Phoenicoparrus. The
Chilean flamingo, Andean flamingo, and James's flamingo are all
sympatric, and all live in colonies (including shared nesting areas).
James's flamingo was thought to have been extinct until a remote
population was discovered in 1956.

James's flamingo is smaller than the Andean flamingo, and is about

the same size as the Old World species, the lesser flamingo. A
specimen of the bird was first collected by Charles Rahmer, who was
on a collecting expedition sponsored by Harry Berkeley James, after
whom the bird was named. It typically measures about 90–92 cm
long and weighs about 2 kg. James's flamingos have a very long neck
made up of 19 long cervical vertebrae, allowing for of movement and
rotation of the head. Their long, thin legs also characterize them.
The knee is not visible externally, but is located at the top of the leg.
The joint at the middle of the leg, which most assume to be the knee
joint, is actually the ankle joint. Its plumage is very pale pink, with
bright carmine streaks around the neck and on the back. When
perched, a small amount of black can be seen in the wings; these are
the flight feathers. Bright red skin occurs around the eyes, which are
yellow in adults. The legs are brick red and the bill is bright yellow
with a black tip. James's flamingo is similar to other South American
flamingos, but the Chilean flamingo is pinker, with a longer bill
without yellow, and the Andean flamingo is larger with more black in
the wings and bill, and yellow legs. The easiest method to
distinguish James's flamingos is by the lighter feathers and the
bright yellow on the bill. A good method to distinguish
Phoenicoparrus from the other species is to look at the feet. In the
other three species of flamingos, the feet consist of three forward-
facing toes and a hallux. The two species of Phoenicoparrus have the
three toes, but do not have a hallux.
Andean flamingo
The Andean flamingo is a species of flamingo native to the Andes
mountains of South America. Until 2014, it was classified in genus
Phoenicopterus. It is closely related to James's flamingo, and the two
make up the genus Phoenicoparrus. The Chilean flamingo, Andean
flamingo, and James' flamingo are all sympatric, and all live in
colonies (including shared nesting areas).

It is distinguished from other flamingos by its deeper lower mandible

and the very long filtering filaments on the maxila. It is the largest
flamingo in the Andes.

The flamingo has a pale pink body with brighter upperparts, deep
vinaceous-pink lower neck, breast, and wing coverts. It is the only
flamingo species with yellow legs and three-toed feet. Its bill is pale
yellow near the skull, but black for the majority of its length, and
curves downward. Its lower mandible is less apparent than those of
the genus Phoenicopterus.

Juveniles present an uniformly pale gray plumage. It is often duskier

on the head and neck. Coverts and scapulars can have darker brown
centers. Meanwhile, adults are overall pale pink, with the feathers
on the lower neck and chest being much brighter pink; coverts may
be similarly bright pink. Head and upper neck may be a brighter pink
than the rest of the body, which can appear almost white with only a
pale pink wash, but head and upper neck never as bright as the
American flamingo
The American flamingo is a large species of flamingo closely related
to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo. It was formerly
considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that treatment
is now widely viewed (e.g. by the American and British
Ornithologists' Unions) as incorrect due to a lack of evidence. It is
also known as the Caribbean flamingo, although it is also present in
the Galápagos Islands. It is the only flamingo that naturally inhabits
North America.

The American flamingo is a large wading bird with reddish-pink

plumage. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky-white egg on a
mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching
takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period
up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy
of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.

Adult American flamingos are smaller on average than greater

flamingos, but are the largest flamingos in the Americas. They
measure from 120 to 145 cm tall. The males weigh an average of 2.8
kg, while females average 2.2 kg. Most of its plumage is pink, giving
rise to its earlier name of rosy flamingo and differentiating adults
from the much paler greater flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and
the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink
and white with an extensive black tip. The legs are entirely pink. The
call is a goose-like honking.