The word ‘flamingo’ comes from the Spanish word ‘flamenco’ meaning fire, which refers to the bright pink or orange colour of the feathers.
Flamingos tend to congregate in mudflats or lagoons, where they can find shallow saltwater prey. These habitats are also difficult for predators to negotiate.
There are six species of flamingo, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS): greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, Chilean flamingo, Andean flamingo, James’ (or puna) flamingo and American (or Caribbean) flamingo.
It takes flamingos about three years to get their pink and red feathers. The bright colour of flamingo feathers is caused by the presence of beta- carotene pigments found in the algae and crustaceans that make up the diet of a flamingo. Adult flamingos’ feathers range from light pink to bright red due to their food supply. The brighter the feathers, the more well-fed the flamingo is.
Flamingos are filter feeders which mean they take in water and food, and then the water is expelled from the body. What a flamingo eats depends on what type of beak it has. Lesser, James’ and Andean flamingos have what is called a deep-keeled bill. They eat mostly algae. Greater, Chilean and American flamingos have shallow-keeled bills, which allow them to eat insects, invertebrates and small fish.
Flamingos are strong but rare swimmers and powerful fliers, even though they’re most often seen just wading. When flying in a flock, the top speed of a flamingo can be as high as 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour). They can seem ungainly or clumsy in flight, however, because their long necks stretch out in front of their bodies and their long legs dangle well past their short tails, giving them a wobbly or clumsy appearance.
The backward bending “knee” of a flamingo’s leg is actually the bird’s ankle. The actual knee is very close to the body and is not visible through the bird’s plumage.
The pinkest birds have the highest status in the colony as the bright colour shows that a particular individual is strong and good at finding food resources. During a colony’s breeding time, a high ranking individual will influence the rest of the flock to breed by changing its feather colour to a deeper pink, kick-starting the breeding rituals. Males and females perform a spectacular courtship dance to attract a mate. Once formed, flamingo pair bonds are mostly monogamous.
Pairs will make nests out of mounds of mud, and the female will lay one egg at a time, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo. The chicks will hatch at the same time
When a flamingo chick hatches, both parents take turns feeding it: first with a special liquid baby food they produce in their throats called crop milk, then with regurgitated regular flamingo food as the chick ages.
A flamingo have a life span of 20-30 years in the wild or up to 50 years in and a flock of flamingos is called a stand or a flamboyance.
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