They are the smallest flamingos and the most abundant. There are more than 2 million lesser flamingos brightening skies and shores with their pink plumage.
Flamingo legs actually bend just like human legs. What looks like a flamingo's knee is really its ankle joint. Think of a flamingo as standing on tiptoe. Flamingos are typically found in shallow saltwater or brackish waters where saltwater and freshwater mix.
The high concentration of carbonate salts in these lakes is so corrosive that it can burn the skin, making the water uninhabitable for most animals. The high salt can still be deadly for some flamingo chicks if salt rings build up on their legs, making it impossible for them to walk. Both parents can produce crop milk to feed a flamingo chick until it is old enough to eat on its own.
You may be used to seeing flamingos gathered in large groups on the ground, but they also take flight. Some flamingos will travel to breed, migrate to a new body of water as seasons change, or move to warmer, lower-altitude areas for the winter. If flamingos are traveling long distances, they often go by night. Flamingos can stand on one foot for long periods of time — even long enough to fall asleep. But, why do they perform this balancing act? Research suggests that flamingos use more muscle power when standing on two legs, so standing on one leg may be less tiring.
Scientists also believe that a one-legged stance may help flamingos stay warm. Birds lose body heat through their limbs. By standing on one leg and tucking the other under their belly, flamingos can limit the amount of heat that escapes through their legs and feet. This article is featured in the July issue of National Zoo News.
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. To eat, flamingos will stir up the bottom of the lake with their feet and duck their beaks down into the mud and water to catch their meal. Groups of flamingos are called colonies or flocks.
The colony works together to protect each other from predators and to take care of the young. It is believed that flamingos are monogamous, according to Sea World. Once they mate, they tend to stay with that mate. A group of flamingos will all mate at the same time so that all of the chicks will hatch at the same time. 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.
Each egg is a little bigger than a large chicken egg, at 3 to 3. The egg will take 27 to 31 days to hatch, and the emerging chick will only be 2. Young reach maturity at 3 to 5 years old. Baby flamingos are gray or white. They will turn pink within the first couple years of life.
Six extant flamingo species have been described so far. Two of these species are referred to as Old World Flamingos, while the other four are known as New World flamingoes. Old World flamingoes are found in the Afro-Eurasia region , while the new world Flamingos are located in the Americas. The greater flamingo is an omnivore whose diet mainly consists of fly larvae, plankton, crabs, mollusks, and small fish. The greater flamingo is larger compared to the lesser flamingo, and it can be found in almost every continent, particularly in warm aquatic environments.
The lesser flamingo is an omnivore whose primary source of nutrients is drawn from the microscopic alkaliphilic Limnospira fusiformis. The American flamingo feeds on algae, aquatic invertebrates, mollusks, seeds, shrimp, and fly larvae.
Flamingos can feed as often as they can as long as they achieve their daily energy needs. For example, the lesser flamingo can consume about 72 grams of cyanobacteria bacteria every day. In their natural habitats, flamingos have a limited number of predators. This could be explained by the fact that they flock together, thus promoting their safety from potential predators.
However, flamingo eggs and chicks are targeted by organisms such as some gull species, African fish eagles , badgers, Marabou storks, foxes, some Vultures , and boars. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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