Animal of the week - Flamingo ( Phoenicopterus ruber)

Animal of the week - Flamingo ( Phoenicopterus ruber)

Flamingo is the common name for the four species of a family of birds having special long legs and long, highly flexible necks. Their relationship to other birds is unknown; some evidence allies them with the herons and ibises, some with the ducks and geese; and there is fossil evidence suggesting a relationship to shorebirds. Their bills bend abruptly downward about midway; the upper mandible (lower jaw) is narrow, and fits into the lower like the lid of a box. When they feed, flamingos dip the head under water and scoop backward with the head upside down. The edges of the bill have tiny narrow transverse plates called lamellae. The large fleshy tongue pressing against the inside of the bill strains the water out through the lamellae, leaving behind the small invertebrates and the vegetable matter upon which the bird feeds.

The largest species is the greater flamingo. It has two rather different subspecies, one vivid red and the other paler. The first of these breeds in the Caribbean area, from Yucatán and the West Indies to the coast of northeastern South America. It breeds well in captivity, and the occasional flamingo seen north of Florida probably escaped from a zoo. The paler flamingo inhabits Eurasia, in the Mediterranean area and Africa, east to India. Males of both subspecies may reach 155 cm (61 in) in height. The greater flamingo breeds in standing water or on low islands in shallow ponds, salt pans, and lagoons, building a conical mound of mud topped by a slight depression in which the one egg (rarely two) is laid. The young are fed on regurgitated food for as long as 75 days, although they can feed for themselves after about 30 days.

The Chilean flamingo is slightly smaller than the greater flamingo. It is pale pink, with bright red streaks on the back. It nests in high salt lakes in the Andes, and also in the lowlands of extreme southern South America. Two small species, the Andean flamingo and James's, or Puna, flamingo, also live in the Andes. The smallest and most abundant species, with a world population of at least 4 million, is the lesser flamingo of Africa east to India.

Scientific classification

Flamingos make up the family Phoenicopteridae of the order Ciconiiformes. They are sometimes placed in their own order, Phoenicopteriformes. The greater flamingo is classified as Phoenicopterus ruber, its vivid red subspecies as Phoenicopterus ruber ruber, and its paler subspecies as Phoenicopterus ruber roseus. The Chilean flamingo is classified as Phoenicopterus chilensis, the Andean flamingo as Phoenicopterus andinus, James's flamingo as Phoenicopterus jamesi, and the lesser flamingo as Phoenicopterus minor.