The flamingo is one of the world's most identifiable birds.
The flamingo may be one of the world's most readily identifiable birds, with its stick-like legs and bright pink coloration. Many a lawn ornament has been cast in the bird's likeness, and there are few zoos whose collections would be complete without a small flock of the brightly colored characters. But beyond these visual cues, most of the general public knows very little about the behavior and habits of the actual bird.
Subtypes and Appearance
Five subspecies of flamingo are recognized worldwide, all occurring in varying shades of pink or red. The largest, the greater flamingo, can reach a height of more than 5 feet, while the smallest, the lesser flamingo, stands just 31 inches. All flamingos possess a large, downward-curving beak, which they use to probe the mud for food. They also have webbed feet to help propel them as they swim, and prevent sinking into muddy pond bottoms.
Habitat
While the varying subspieces of flamingo can be found everywhere from Africa to Asia to the Caribbean, in all locations the birds will seek out shallow bodies of water where the bottom is muddy, such as lakes and lagoons. Flamingos can tolerate a wide range of water pH and salinity levels, and will exist quite happily even in bodies of water that most other birds do not visit. This is especially true in East Africa, where more than half of the world's flamingo population resides.
Behavior and Diet
Flamingos are boisterous social birds, and flocks can number into the hundreds of thousands where food sources are available. The birds eat a diet formed primarily of small crustaceans and various diatoms such as Spirulina. Their high alpha and beta carotene intake is responsible for the birds' pink coloration.
Breeding
Flamingos breed every four to six years, depending on species. The female lays a single white egg on a mound made of mud, sticks and feathers, which can be up to 12 inches tall. Both parents take turns incubating the egg for roughly a month and share the duties of caring for the chick for its first week of life. Unlike most birds, who regurgitate for their young, flamingos feed their offspring a substance called crop milk, which is secreted in the upper digestive tract. After the birds fledge, they join a creche of other young birds, protected within the flock, until they are able to fully fly and fend for themselves.
Conservation
While most scientists agree that flamingos are not currently threatened, they are one of a number of species that stands to fall very quickly from stability into turmoil if their numbers are not monitored carefully. Because flamingos rely so heavily on particular bodies of water for feeding and reproduction, habitat loss can be particularly damaging. The bird's habits of raising one chick at a time every five years mean that recovery could be nearly impossible if numbers ever fell too low.
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