Riyadh Zoo

General Information:

Common Name:Greater Flamingo
Scientific Name:Phoenicopterus roseus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order:Phoenicopteriformes
Family:Phoenicopteridae

Description

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most considered separate species. Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes, and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail, and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

Distribution

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent.

Habitat

They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

Mating Habits

Greater flamingos are serially monogamous birds, forming pair bonds that remain together only for a single breeding season. They breed in dense colonies numbering up to 20,000 or more pairs. A single chalky-white egg is laid, rarely two. Both parents share the incubation of 27-31 days. After several days of being brooded by both parents, the chick joins a crèche with many other chicks. Both parents feed the chick, with the typical milk that is secreted in the adults' upper digestive tract. Chicks fledge between 65 and 90 days after hatching and become reproductively mature between 4 and 6 years of age.

Diet

Greater flamingos are omnivores, eating crustaceans, mollusks, worms, crabs, insects, and sometimes small fish. They also feed on plant material, including shoots and grass seeds, decaying leaves, and algae, sometimes even ingesting mud to extract any organic matter it contains.

Threats

1. Greater flamingos are threatened by human disturbance and lowering water levels, which increases the salinity of sites where they feed and so can affect food resources or cause thick soda deposits which can harm the legs of chicks.
2. The potential effects of climate change on rainfall and sea level may therefore impact breeding sites seriously in the future. Further threats to greater flamingos include disease, pollution, lead poisoning (from the ingesting of lead shot), and habitat loss because of industrial and harbor development or drainage of the wetlands for agriculture. Large numbers of greater flamingos in Egypt are shot or captured for sale in markets, and the collection of eggs remains a threat in some areas.

IUCN Status

Least Concern