2. Description of Animal
• Flamingos are large pink or red-colored wading birds known for their long legs.
• A flamingo's pink body coloration is determined by the large amounts of alpha
and beta carotenoid pigments they ingest which is found in the food they eat.
• There are 5 species of flamingoes: Caribbean, Greater, Chilean, Lesser, James’,
and Andean.
• Flamingoes range from 4 to 5 feet tall and weigh from 4 to 8 pounds.
• The lesser flamingo has a wingspan of about 38 inches, the greater flamingo
has a wingspan from 55 to 65 inches, and the Caribbean flamingo has a
wingspan of about 59 inches.
3. Distribution and Habitat
• The Greater Flamingo is the most widespread flamingo as it is found in parts of
Africa, southern Europe, and southern and southwest Asia.
• The Lesser Flamingo is the most numerous flamingo and is found in Africa—
primarily the Great Rift Valley—to northwest Asia.
• The Chilean Flamingo populates temperate South America, specifically from
Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina as well as Brazil.
• James’s Flamingo is found in the high altitudes of Andean plateaus of
Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
• The Andean Flamingo is native to the wetlands of the high Andes mountain
range from southern Peru to northwestern Argentina and northern Chile.
4. Endangered Status
• The flamingo conservation ranges from least concern to vulnerable.
• Least concern: Greater Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo
• Near threatened: Chilean Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, James’ Flamingo
• Vulnerable: Andean Flamingo
The Andean Flamingo population has declined rapidly because of recent threats to its
habitat. Mineral mining that takes place in the lakes of the Andean Mountains creates
drainage that pollutes the lake water, causing the Andean Flamingo population to decline.
5. Diet
• Flamingos eat algae, diatoms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, and small fishes.
• A flamingo’s pink color is from the food they eat that contains carotenoid pigments.
Carotenoids are organic pigments that are found in chloroplasts and chromoplasts of
plants and organisms.
• The richest sources of carotenoids are found in the algae and various invertebrates
that make up the bulk of a flamingo's diet. When the food is broken down during
digestion, it produces a pink pigment.
• In zoos, flamingos are fed many of the same things they would eat in the wild, but
they are also fed pellets that contain many of the nutrients they need.
• The shape of flamingo's filtering bill determines its diet. A flamingo will either have a
shallow or a deep-keeled bill.
Lesser, James', and Andean flamingos have deep-keeled bills and feed mainly on algae and
diatoms.
Greater, Caribbean, and Chilean flamingos have shallow-keeled bills and feed on
insects, aquatic invertebrates, and small fishes. Caribbean flamingos eat larval and pupal
forms of flies and brine shrimp as their main food.
6. Reproductive History
• Flamingos reach sexual maturity several years after hatching and usually begin
to breed at about six years of age.
• Flamingos breed in colonies but do not have a specific breeding season.
• Mating occurs in the water.
• Males and females pair up and build a nest to lay the egg.
• After the egg is laid, the male and female take turns incubating the egg for 30
days until it hatches.
• After the chick hatches, the parents take care of it until it reaches maturity.
• Newborn flamingos tend to have a gray and white coloration and do not turn
pink for about to years.
• The average life span for a flamingo is between 20 to 30 years.
7. Three Fun Facts
• Flamingo chicks are born a grayish color up to three years to reach their mature
pink color.
• The pink, orange or red color of a flamingo's feathers is caused by “carotenoid
pigments in their food”.
• Adult flamingo’s legs can be 30-50 inches long, which is longer than their entire
body.
9. Evolutionary History of Species
• Flamingos are the only members of the family Phoenicopteridae.
• Fossil evidence suggests that the group from which flamingos evolved is
extremely old and existed about 30 million years ago.
• Through the studying of fossils, it is believed that flamingos emerged from
ancient shorebirds.
• 7 million year old fossilized flamingo footprints were found in the Andes
Mountains.
• The closest living relatives of the flamingos are the grebes. Grebes and
flamingos have about eleven morphological traits in common, which are not
found on other birds.
