Greater flamingo

The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Himalayas), the Middle East, the Levant, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe.

Taxonomy

The greater flamingo was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. It was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species. The greater flamingo has no subspecies and is therefore monotypic.<ref name="hbw">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Description

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo,<ref name="origin">Template:Cite book</ref> averaging Template:Convert tall and weighing Template:Convert. The largest male flamingos have been recorded to be up to Template:Convert tall and to weigh Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.

Chicks are covered in gray fluffy down. Subadult flamingos are paler with dark legs. Adults feeding chicks also become paler, but retain the bright pink legs. The coloration comes from the carotenoid pigments in the organisms that live in their feeding grounds. Secretions of the uropygial gland also contain carotenoids. During the breeding season, greater flamingos increase the frequency of their spreading uropygial secretions over their feathers and thereby enhance their color. This cosmetic use of uropygial secretions has been described as applying "make-up".<ref name="Amat">Template:Cite journal</ref>

• Egg at Cincinnati Zoo
  Egg at Cincinnati Zoo
• Chick with gray down
  Chick with gray down
• Juvenile at Ghadira Nature Reserve, Malta
  Juvenile at Ghadira Nature Reserve, Malta
• Subadults at Pulicat Lake, India
  Subadults at Pulicat Lake, India
• Pink flamingo at Lake Télamine, Oran, Algeria.
  Pink flamingo at Lake Télamine, Oran, Algeria.

Distribution

It is found in parts of Northern Africa (including coastal areas of northern Algeria, Egypt further inland along the Nile River, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia), portions of Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda), Southern Asia (coastal Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka), the Middle East (Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Israel, West Bank, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) and Southern Europe (including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, France in the Camargue and Corsica, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain and the Balearic Islands, and Turkey).<ref name="gbif">Template:Gbif</ref>

The most northern breeding spot is the Zwillbrocker Venn in western Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands. They have been recorded breeding in the United Arab Emirates at three different locations in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Gujarat, a coastal state in the west of India, flamingos can be observed at the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, Flamingo City, and in the Thol Bird Sanctuary. They remain there during the entire winter season.<ref>Koshti A.J. and Bony L.S (2016). "Ethology of greater flamingo in captivity", Undergraduate thesis submitted to St.Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, India.</ref>

Ecology

The greater flamingo resides in mudflats and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water. Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, brine shrimp, other crustaceans, seeds (such as rice), blue-green algae, microscopic organisms (such as diatoms), insect larvae (such as chironomids), and mollusks.<ref name=ADW>Template:Cite web</ref> The greater flamingo feeds with its head down, its upper jaw movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.<ref name="stanford-flamingo">Template:Cite web</ref>

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

Lifespan

The typical lifespan in captivity, according to Basel Zoo, is over 60 years.<ref name="vasel">Template:Cite web</ref> In the wild, the average lifespan is 30–40 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Threats and predators

Natural

Adult greater flamingos have few natural predators. Eggs and chicks may be eaten by raptors, crows, gulls, and the marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer); an estimated half of the predation of greater flamingo eggs and chicks is from the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).<ref name="marwell">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Human

The primary threats to flamingo populations are bacteria, toxins, and pollution in water supplies, which is usually run-off from manufacturing companies, and encroachment on their habitat.Template:Cn

In human captivity

The first recorded zoo hatch was in 1959 at Zoo Basel. In Zoo Basel's breeding program, over 400 birds have been hatched with between 20 and 27 per year since 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The oldest known greater flamingo was a bird at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia that died at the age of at least 83 years. The bird's exact age is not known; it was already a mature adult when it arrived in Adelaide in 1933. It was euthanized in January 2014 due to complications of old age.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

• A subadult (top) with an adult (bottom) in flight
  A subadult (top) with an adult (bottom) in flight
• In flight at Jamnagar, India
  In flight at Jamnagar, India
• Colony in the Po River delta, Italy
  Colony in the Po River delta, Italy
• Resting heads, Bahrain
  Resting heads, Bahrain
• The skeleton of a greater flamingo
  The skeleton of a greater flamingo
• A subadult feeding in Walvis Bay, Namibia
  A subadult feeding in Walvis Bay, Namibia

See also

• Tallest extant birds

External links

• Performing greater flamingos in open field Template:Webarchive
• Greater flamingo - Species text - The Atlas of Southern African Birds
• Article with video about Greater Flamingo at avibirds.com