Brainwave Canal: Facts Flamingos are large with long legs

Description

Flamingos are large with long legs. They also have bill that is curved and plumage that is in shades that range from white to gray, to orange or pink. Certain species of birds may have black bills , and black feathers. Greater flamingos are by far the largest bird in the world, standing between 3.5 up to five feet in height and weighs up to 4.4 to 8.8 pounds. The lesser Flamingo is the smallest and is 2.6 to 3 feet and a the weight range of 2.6 up to 6 pounds.

Habitat and Distribution

Flamingos favor shallow water habitats such as lagoons, tidal flats swamps, lakes, and even islands. The largest flamingos are found on the coasts of Africa as well as southern Europe and in the southwest of Asia. The lesser flamingo inhabits in the Great Rift Valley in Africa all the way to northwestern India.

The American Flamingo is found within areas like the Galapagos Islands, Belize, the Caribbean islands and the southern part of Florida. The Chilean Flamingo can be seen in temperate areas in South America. The Andean flame and puna flamingo puna flame (or James’ flamingo) are located within the Andes Mountains of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. Do Birds Pee

Diet

Flamingos are Omnivores who consume the blue-green algae as well as brine shrimp insects, crustaceans, and Mollusks. It is their habit to stir up and stir up mud using their feet, and then place their bills upside-down into the water to clean food. The pigment molecules present in the food they eat (carotenoids) give flamingos their pink-reddish to reddish hue.

Flamingos that eat mainly blue-green algae have darker colors than those who get the pigment from crustaceans. Flamingos who don’t receive carotenoids in their diet could be healthy, but are either white or gray.

Behavior

Flamingos are very social bird species living in colonies. Colonies help birds build nests as well as ward off predators. They also discover food easily. The birds usually sit on one leg, and then tuck the other under their bodies. The reason for this behaviour is not clear, however it can help the birds keep their body warm or the energy needed to stand for all day long. Flamingos are great flyers. The birds that are captured are clipped on their wings to prevent them from fleeing.

Reproduction and Offspring

Flamingos tend to be monogamous and have a single egg every year. Males and females both perform ceremonies of courtship, often leading to identical-sex couples. A pair of mating pairs constructs nests together and share incubation tasks for approximately a month before the chick is born.

Chicks that are born are fluffy and gray having black feet with straight, black beaks. Parents produce pink crop milk for the chick. As the chick grows, parents eat food in order to nourish their offspring. When the chicks reach at least two weeks old, they gather in creches or groups which makes them less vulnerable to predators.

The chick’s color changes within the one or two years and its beak swells as it grows. Wild flamingos last between 20 and 30 years old however, captive birds may last for a longer time. One flamingo that was captive and called “Greater” lived at least an 83-year old age.

Conservation Status

IUCN conservancy status for the flamingo varies from “vulnerable” to “least concern.” The Andean Flamingo is classified as vulnerable, and has an established population. The lesser flamingo Chilean flamingo, as well as the puna flamingos are threatened with declining or stable populations.

The greater flamingo as well as American flamingo are classified as being of little threat and are growing in size. The census of 1997 found just 3,414 Andean flamingos. They have hundreds of thousands larger as well as American flamingos.

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