Greater Flamingo

Phoenicopterus ruber

TAXONOMY

Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus, 1758, Bahamas. Two subspecies: P.r. ruber and P.r. roseus.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Caribbean, West Indian flamingo, rosy flamingo; French: Flamant rose; German Rosaflamingo; Spanish: Flamenco Común.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

47–57 in (120–145 cm) 4.6–9.0 lb (2.1–3.4 kg); female approximately 10–20% smaller than male. Largest of the flamingos, adults are rosy red (Caribbean population) or whitish tinged with pink (European-African-Asian population) with brighter pink on the wings. The flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a black tip, and legs are pink with darker pink joints. Hatchling is dark or light gray down with bright red legs and straight red bill. Juvenile is gray-brown, acquiring pale pink upper wing panel and pink tinge to gray legs and bill at 11 months; at four years, body plumage and lower portion of bill still grayer than adults.

DISTRIBUTION

P. r. ruber: Galápagos and Caribbean; P. r. roseus: North, West, East, and South Africa, southern Europe, Middle East, southwest Asia and Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka.

HABITAT

Shallow saline and alkaline lakes and lagoons.

BEHAVIOR

Gregarious, with group displays involving ritualized movements of head and wings, accompanied by loud calls. In flocks of a few hundred to over one million.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Sieves aquatic invertebrates, seeds, algae, and diatoms from shallow water and mud.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Lays single egg (large, elongated, white, and chalky with reddish yolk) on mud nest close to or in shallow water, the time of breeding being dictated by rainfall rather than seasons. Nests in dense colonies, up to tens or hundreds of thousands of pairs. Incubation period 27–31 days; fledging 65–90 days. Both parents incubate and care for young, which gather into groups. Productivity very variable, with complete failures in some years. Age of first breeding normally five or six years.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened. Has declined in the Caribbean but increased in southwestern Europe. Elsewhere, very numerous, though subject to wide fluctuations in numbers based on rains and breeding success.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Sometimes hunted for food or sport, e.g., in Egypt.

Greater Flamingo
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Phoenicopteriformes
Family:	Phoenicopteridae
Genus:	Phoenicopterus
Species:	P. roseus
Binomial name
Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811
Synonyms
Phoenicopterus antiquorum

at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.

at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.

The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread species of the flamingo family. It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia (coastal regions of Pakistan and India) and southern Europe (including Spain, Sardinia, Albania, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, and the Camargue region of France). Some populations are short distance migrants, and records north of the breeding range are relatively frequent; however, given the species' popularity in captivity whether these are truly wild individuals is a matter of some debate. A single bird was seen on North Keeling Island (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) in 1988. Greater flamingo is the state bird of Gujarat, India.

This is the largest species of flamingo, averaging 110–150 cm (43–60 in) tall and weighing 2–4 kg (4.4-8.8 lbs). The largest male flamingoes have been recorded at up to 187 cm (74 in) tall and 4.5 kg (10 lbs).^[2]. It is closely related to the American Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo, with which it is has sometimes been considered conspecific, but that treatment is now widely seen (e.g. by the American and British Ornithologists' Union) as incorrect and based on a lack of evidence.

Like all flamingos, this species lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.

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.

Contents 1 Lifespan 2 Gallery 3 References 4 External links

Lifespan

The oldest known greater flamingo, a resident of the Adelaide Zoo in Australia, is at least 75 years old. The bird's exact age is not known; however, he was already a mature adult when he arrived in Adelaide in 1933.^[3]

Gallery

after taking off at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	calling at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	feeding at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	in flight at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	landing at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.
scape at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	taking off at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India.	Ras al Khor Bird Sanctuary, Dubai

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2008). Phoenicopterus roseus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 17 April 2009.
2. ^ http://en.tourduvalat.org/content/download/7378/73859/version/2/file/All+About+Greater+Flamingo.pdf
3. ^ "Australia youths "maul flamingo"". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7699092.stm. Retrieved 17 April 2009. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Phoenicopterus roseus

• Flamingo Resource Centre - a collection of resources and information related to flamingos
• Greater Flamingo videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• Performing Greater Flamingos in open field

v • d • e Flamingos (order: Phoenicopteriformes • family: Phoenicopteridae • Genus: Phoenicopterus) Species Greater Flamingo • Lesser Flamingo • Chilean Flamingo • James's Flamingo • Andean Flamingo • American Flamingo (Caribbean Flamingo)

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