Part of my family vacation in Oklahoma was spent at the Oklahoma City Zoo with a 6-year-old, 4-year-old, 2-year-old and 10-month-old. It was exciting to see their eyes light up when viewing their favorite animals. Learning the names of animals is a big part of preschool. The 6-year-old, Lincoln, was teaching us all about extinct and endangered animals. He knew a lot about the dhole (pronounced “dole”) or Asiatic wild dog which is native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia and is endangered. All eleven of us — which included adults — liked the colorful flamingos. The birds were quite vocal when all together in a large group. I have always liked the look of flamingos, and they are a good symbol for Florida which is where my nephew and his family came from to visit. Many years ago, I even ate at the Flamingo Hotel buffet in Las Vegas where I saw Sherman Hemsley who played George Jefferson on the “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” TV shows. He was not performing there, just sitting at a regular table and eating food like everyone else. So, flamingos are important for a variety of reasons. Let’s learn more about them.
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.
The name "flamingo" comes from Portuguese or Spanish “flamengo” or "flame-colored.” The generic name Phoenicopterus literally means "blood red-feathered" and has a similar etymology to the common name; other genera include Phoeniconaias which means "crimson/red water nymph" and Phoenicoparrus which means "crimson/red bird."
Relationship with grebes
Recent molecular studies have suggested a relation with grebes, while morphological evidence also strongly supports a relationship between flamingos and grebes. They hold at least 11 morphological traits in common, which are not found in other birds. Many of these characteristics have been previously identified on flamingos, but not on grebes. The fossil palaelodids can be considered evolutionarily and ecologically intermediate between flamingos and grebes.
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 43–59 inches tall and weighing 4.4–8.8 lbs. The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up to 74 inches tall and 9.9 lbs.
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."
The greater flamingo resides in mudflats and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water. Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks. The greater flamingo feeds with its head down, and its upper jaw is movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.
Like all flamingos, this species lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.
The typical lifespan in captivity, according to Basel Zoo, is over 60 years. In the wild, the average lifespan is 30 – 40 years.
Adult greater flamingos have few natural predators. Eggs and chicks may be eaten by raptors, crows, gulls and the marabou stork; an estimated half of the predation of greater flamingo eggs and chicks is from the yellow-legged gull.
The primary human threats to flamingo populations are bacteria, toxins and pollution in water supplies, which is usually run-off from manufacturing companies and encroachment on their habitat.
The first recorded zoo hatch was in 1959 at Zoo Basel. In Zoo Basel's breeding program, over 400 birds have been hatched with between 20 and 27 per year since 2000. The oldest known greater flamingo was a bird at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia that died aged at least 83 years. The bird's exact age is not known; he was already a mature adult when he arrived in Adelaide in 1933. He was euthanized in January 2014 due to complications of old age.
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 2.6 to 6.0 lbs. The standing height is around 31 to 35 inches. The total length from beak to tail and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from 35 to 41 inches. 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 color, the algae contain the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their pink color. Their deep bill is specialized for filtering tiny food items.
Lesser flamingos are prey to a variety of species, including marabou storks, vultures, baboons, African fish eagles, jackals, hyenas, foxes and big cats.
In Africa, where they are most numerous, the lesser flamingos breed principally on the highly caustic Lake Natron in northern Tanzania. Their other African breeding sites are at Etosha Pan, Makgadikgadi Pan and Kamfers Dam. The last confirmed breeding at Aftout es Saheli in coastal Mauritania was in 1965. Breeding occurred at Lake Magadi in Kenya in 1962 when Lake Natron was unsuitable due to flooding. In the early 20th century, breeding was also observed at Lake Nakuru.
The species also breeds in southwestern and southern Asia. In 1974, they bred at the Rann of Kutch, but since then only at the Zinzuwadia and Purabcheria salt pans in northwestern India. Some movement of individuals occurs between Africa and India.
Like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky-white egg on a mound they build of mud. Chicks join creches soon after hatching, sometimes numbering over 100,000 individuals. The creches are marshalled by a few adult birds that lead them by foot to fresh water, a journey that can reach over 20 miles.
Despite being the most numerous species of flamingo, it is classified as near threatened due to its declining population and the low number of breeding sites, some of which are threatened by human activities.
The population in the two key East African lakes — Nakuru and Bogoria — have been adversely affected in recent years by suspected heavy metal poisoning, while its primary African breeding area in Lake Natron is currently under threat by a proposed soda ash plant by Tata Chemicals. The only breeding site in South Africa, situated at Kamfers Dam, is threatened by pollution and encroaching development.
Chilean flamingo
The Chilean flamingo is a species of large flamingo at 43–51 inches closely related to the American flamingo and greater flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed as near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
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 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.
Chilean flamingos live in large flocks in the wild and require crowded conditions to stimulate breeding. During breeding season, males and females display a variety of behaviors to attract mates, including head flagging — swiveling their heads from side-to-side in tandem — and wing salutes, where the wings are repeatedly opened and closed. Flamingos in general have a poor record of successful breeding because they will delay reproduction until the environmental conditions are favorable for breeding.
Males and females cooperate in building a pillar-shaped mud nest and both incubate the egg laid by the female. Both parents also take turns incubating the egg. Upon hatching, the chicks have gray plumage; they do not gain the typical pink adult coloration for 2–3 years. Both male and female flamingos can produce a nutritious milk-like substance in their crop gland to feed their young.
The first flamingo hatched in a European zoo was a Chilean flamingo at Zoo Basel in Switzerland in 1958.
In 1988, a Chilean flamingo that lived in the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City, Utah, had mistakenly not received his routine wing clipping. The flamingo escaped and became a local legend in the greater Salt Lake area known as Pink Floyd the Flamingo. Pink Floyd came to Utah in the winters to eat the brine shrimp that live in the Great Salt Lake and flew north to Idaho and Montana in the spring and summer. Pink Floyd became a popular tourist attraction and local icon until his disappearance and presumed death after he flew north to Idaho one spring in 2005 and was never seen again.
Since there is such a decline in this species, breeding programs have been implemented in zoos to remove the decline of the wild stock numbers.
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 2.95–3.02 feet long and weighs about 4.4 lbs. James's flamingos have a very long neck made up of 19 long cervical vertebrae, allowing for 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.
Newly hatched flamingos are gray or white. They gain color after two or three years of age. The active component that gives the feathers the pink color are the terpenoids alpha- and beta-carotenes, similar to carotene in carrots. A diet rich in carotene allows them to produce pigmented feathers. An adult has 12 main feathers designed for flight on each wing. The body is covered in contour feathers, which protect the bird and also help with waterproofing from a secretion of oil at the base of the feather. When roosting, they face the wind so rain does not get up and under the feathers. Plumage is 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 mentioned above. There are typically 12 to 16 tail feathers. James's flamingos molt their wing and body feathers according to their breeding schedule and the color of the new feathers depends on the quality of the diet that they have obtained. No evidence of color differentiation is seen between the males and females.
All flamingo species are capable of flying. The flight feathers are easily distinguished in James's flamingos as they are the only black feathers on the bird. To begin flying, they run a few steps and then begin to flap their wings. When they want to land, the opposite process occurs and as they touch down to a surface, they continue to run as they decelerate and stop flapping their wings. Flamingos have been noted to fly up to 37 mph. This measurement refers to a migration of an entire flock, but evidence exists that due to the limited regions in which this species is found, they do not migrate very far, and so may not reach this speed when going shorter distances.
Breeding cycles in flamingos begin at 6 years of age when fully matured. The frequency of breeding is irregular and may skip a year. The entire colony may participate in mating rituals at the same time. The males put on a show by vocalizing and sticking their necks and heads straight up in the air and turning their heads back and forth. The females initiate mating by walking away from the group and a male follows. The female then spreads her wings and the male mounts the female. The female lays one egg on a cone-shaped nest made from mud, sticks, and other materials in the area. The shape of the egg is oval, similar to that of a chicken. It is smaller in size, length and breadth compared to the other species, including the closely related Andean flamingo. Both the male and female incubate the egg for 26–31 days before it hatches. The chick breaks through the shell using an egg tooth, which is not actually a true tooth, but is actually a keratinized structure, which falls off after fully hatching. When newly hatched, the chick's bill is straight and red, but later develops a curve and the adult colors of beak. The feathers are white and grey and the legs are pink. The eyes of chicks are gray for their first year. The parents are able to distinguish their chick from others in the colony by appearance and vocalization.
Andean flamingo
The Andean flamingo is a species of flamingo native to the Andes mountains of South America. 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.
Fossils attributed to Andean Flamingo have been found at the Salar de Atacama border and roughly date to the Early Formative period, approximately 3,000 to 2,200 BP. These fossils date to a period consistent with the onset of modern climate conditions that the species now inhabits.
The Andean flamingo's habitat is constantly changing due to human activity. The primary threat to the flamingo population is mining excavations, which occur at the end of the summer rainy season. The habitat of the Andean flamingo is rich in boron compounds, specifically borax. Borax is fairly toxic at high dosages to animals such as the Andean flamingo, but not to humans. Studies testing the effects of borax exposure in animals show that excess boron causes skeletal malformations, cardiovascular defects and degeneration of testes. Borax is a derivative of boric acid; a study comparing the toxicology of borates determined that salts of boric acid produce comparable effects. A study on the mining environment determined as little as 5 g of borax can produce adverse effects in animal populations, but human workers remain unaffected at these levels. Therefore, the miners remain unaffected while the animals suffer from developmental and reproductive toxicity.
A study on Salinas Lake in Peru showed that mining companies have established themselves adjacent to the flamingos' nesting sites, and some mining is performed near flamingo breeding grounds and feeding sites. Flamingos abandoned their nesting sites if mining was initiated after the establishment of nesting colonies and in close proximity. An increase of hydrocarbon exploration resulted in a decreased success rate for breeding. Less than 1% of the flamingos observed were juveniles. The decreased reproductive success may be due to borax exposure or to an altered environment caused by bulldozers disturbing the lake bed. Mining creates a muddy environment, which entraps flamingos, thus increasing mortality. Surveys conducted on residents near the mining activities report sightings of dead flamingos exhumed by the bulldozers.
The extraction process also affects the water availability. Andean flamingos filter surface water for food, but borax mining pollutes this water. Along with the pollution, the extractions expedite the removal of lake moisture. By limiting the amount of water in the lake, mining companies can increase visibility, thus contributing to more optimal mining. A study comparing the correlation between water availability and flamingo population determined that the number of flamingos was strongly correlated to the proportion of water in the lake. With an insufficient food supply and a disturbed habitat, the decrease in offspring seems inevitable.
Not only are the flamingos' offspring numbers diminished by mining activities, but they are also affected by the egg collection by locals. This illegal hunting has increased over time due to an increase in international demand for flamingo eggs. Poaching is conducted by organized groups within Chile; the group members trap the flamingos and export them to Europe, the United States, and other overseas destinations. The exportation process in conducted mainly in the Altiplano, which is an area that has deep cultural roots in egg poaching. During the reproductive season, local families also take eggs from flamingo nests. The removal of eggs can disturb the nesting process and cause the flamingo to abandon its nest, even if some eggs remain. Egg removal might be acceptable if the local populations were malnourished, but studies on the diets of the local people show no protein deficiency. In the area of study, the common people raise llamas and alpacas, which offer a higher content of protein than flamingo eggs.
Alongside mining activities, unregulated tourism has taken its toll on the flamingos' habitat. Over time, numerous peat bogs have developed throughout the land. These bogs gradually build up and begin to overflow into the lake. When the bogs enter the lake, they decrease the surface area of the water and prevent the flamingos from entering the lake to feed. As a result of the mining and the tourism, new infrastructure, such as highways, are being built into the Andes. Highways now run alongside the flamingos' habitat. With the addition of these roads, accessibility to the flamingos' habitat increases, leading to more commercial mining and tourism, which in turn results in detrimental effects to the Andean flamingo population. The development of new infrastructure has caused severe fragmentation of the lake, diminishing the biodiversity, and increasing the possibility of extinction for all species.
The demand for surface and underground water, energy production and transportation, as well as unregulated tourism, have all increased in the last two decades. These increases were documented to be most significant in Chile, the main location for Andean flamingo breeding colonies. As a consequence, these areas are concentrated with toxic compounds due to mineral and hydrocarbon exploration. Since the 1980s, the number of successful breeding colonies and the total production of chicks of Andean flamingos declined. As a result, the Andean flamingos are threatened species.
The American flamingo breeds in the Galápagos Islands, coastal Colombia, Venezuela and nearby islands, northern Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, along the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cameron Parish, Louisiana and in extreme southern Florida. It is a vagrant to Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Barbados and Honduras. The population in the Galápagos Islands differs genetically from that in the Caribbean; the Galápagos flamingos are significantly smaller, exhibit sexual dimorphism in body shape, and lay smaller eggs. They are sometimes separated as Phoenicopterus ruber glyphorhynchus.
Its preferred habitats are similar to those of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats and shallow, brackish coastal or inland lakes. An example habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán.
The American flamingo is also found in South Florida and the Florida Keys, both of which were likely the northernmost extent of its distribution. The existence of flamingo eggs in museum collections labeled as collected from Florida indicates that they likely nested there as well. Since the arrival of Europeans, the population started to decline, up until the 1900s, where it was considered completely extirpated. During the 1950s, birds from the captive population at Hialeah Park frequently escaped, thus leading to the conclusion that all modern flamingos in Florida were escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucatán Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park.
However, a study published in 2018, involving an abandoned young flamingo named Conchy found in Key West, indicates that the occasional flamingos observed in parts of Florida are in fact natives, with some even permanently staying in Florida Bay year-round. The study also indicated that these flamingos may be increasing in population and reclaiming their lost range, slowly but steadily returning home. Large flocks of flamingos are still known to visit Florida from time to time, most notably in 2014, when a very large flock of over 147 flamingos temporarily stayed at Stormwater Treatment Area 2, on Lake Okeechobee, with a few returning the following year. From a distance, untrained eyes can also confuse it with the roseate spoonbill.
Mating and bonding behaviors of P. ruber individuals have been extensively studied in captivity. The American flamingo is usually monogamous when selecting a nest site, and incubating and raising young; however, extra-pair copulations are frequent.
While males usually initiate courtship, females control the process. If interest is mutual, a female walks by the male, and if the male is receptive, he walks with her. Both parties make synchronized movements until one member aborts this process. For low-intensity courtships, males and females walk in unison with their heads raised. In high-intensity courtships, males and females walk at a quick pace with their heads dropped in a false feeding posture. This high-intensity courtship stops at any point if either bird turns and the other does not follow, the heads are raised, unison movements are stopped, or the pace of movement is slowed. If the female is ultimately receptive to copulation, she stops walking and presents for the male. Long-term pairs do not frequently engage in courtship behaviors or in-group display. Pairs often stand, sleep and eat in close proximity.
Courtship is most often seen among individuals that change partners often or are promiscuous. A spectrum of pairing relationships is seen. Some birds have a long-term partner throughout the year; others form pairs during periods of courtship and nest attendance. How long a relationship lasts is affected by many factors, including addition and removal of adults, maturation of juveniles and occurrence of trios and quartets. In most pairs, both individuals usually construct and defend the nest site. In rare cases, one individual undertakes both duties. Within trios, the dominant pair begins the nesting process by choosing and then defending the site.
For trios with one male and two females, the subordinate female is tolerated by the male, but often fights with the dominant female. If two females share a nest and both lay an egg, one female will try to destroy the other egg or roll it out of the nest. For trios with two males and one female, the subordinate male is tolerated by both individuals and often becomes the primary incubator and caregiver of the chicks. For quartets, the dominant male and two females take care of the nest, while the subordinate male remains around the periphery, never gaining access to the nest. Less animosity is observed between the dominant and subordinate females in quartets compared to trios.
The egg is attended constantly and equally by alternating parents. Chicks at the nest are attended constantly by alternating parents, up to 7–11 days of age. Most attentive periods during incubation and brooding last 21–60 hours, both in the case where the “off-duty” parents remain in the same lagoon to feed or when breeding occurs in lagoons deficient in food, they fly to other lagoons to feed. Nest reliefs during incubation take place predominantly in late afternoon or early morning.
The time for receiving food from parents decreases from hatching to about 105 days, and the decrease is greatest after the chicks have left the nest at 7–11 days to band into crèches. The frequency and the duration of feeds by male and female partners do not differ significantly. After chicks have left the nest, feeds are predominantly nocturnal.
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