Flamingo

Flamingo, common name for the five species of a family of birds that have exceptionally long legs and long, highly flexible necks. Their relationship to other birds is uncertain; some evidence allies them with the herons and ibises, some with the ducks and geese; and there is fossil evidence suggesting a relationship to wading birds. Their bills bend abruptly downward about midway; the upper mandible is narrow, and fits into the lower mandible like the lid of a box. When they feed, flamingos dip the head under water and scoop backwards 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 vegetable matter upon which the bird feeds.

Flamingos live in large flocks, often numbering in the tens of thousands. Their nests are conical mounds of mud in shallow water. The female lays one or two white eggs, which are incubated by both parents. The young are fed on regurgitated food for as long as 75 days, although they can feed for themselves after about 30 days.

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 Caribbean to the coast of north-eastern 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 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. It is about 100 cm (40 in) tall and has deep pink plumage.

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 Phoenicoparrus andinus, James’s flamingo as Phoenicoparrus jamesi, and the lesser flamingo as Phoeniconaias minor.