Ecology
Basics:
The flamingo is a large bird with beautiful pink or red feathers, also known for its long legs and slightly crooked long beak.
The largest among flamingos - Pink flamingo - reaches 1.2-1.5 meters in height and weighs a maximum of 3.5 kilograms. The smallest flamingos - Lesser flamingo - only a little more than 0.8 meters in length, its weight is on average 2.5 kilograms.
Pink flamingos have the palest feather colors when... Caribbean flamingos are famous for their bright pink, almost red feathers.
Flamingos come from an ancient genus of birds, their ancestors similar to modern views, lived on the planet already 30 million years ago, according to Smithsonian National Zoo.
Distinctive pink color flamingos depend on the food they eat. They feed on algae and shrimp, which contain pigments carotenoids(these pigments are what give oranges their orange color), which turn into red pigments when digested.
When eating, flamingos lower their heads under the water, draw in water with their beaks, sifting out the nutritious foods they eat, and the water comes out through their beaks. Tiny, hair-like filters help filter out food and release water. One study found that a special float that supports the bird's head allows it to feed by turning its head upside down and holding it on the surface of the water.
The long legs of flamingos help them walk along the bottom even at relatively great depth in search of food, which gives them some advantages over other birds.
Flamingos are social birds that live in groups of different sizes. They gather in flocks when they fly from place to place, and also prefer to stay in groups when they are on the ground. Flamingos also have loud and shrill calls.
These birds can fly, but they need a short run to get off the ground. During flight, they extend their long necks and legs in one straight line.
Flamingos pair up during the mating season, but find other partners the following season. The female and male build a nest together. The female lays only one egg per season, which is guarded by both parents. After the chick hatches, both parents are also responsible for feeding it.
The nest is usually built from mud and is about 0.3 meters high. The height allows you to protect it from floods and the very heated surface of the earth. After hatching, the chick has gray feathers and a pink beak and legs. They do not acquire the characteristic pink color of their feathers until they are 2 years old.
After hatching, flamingo chicks remain in the nest for 5-12 days, they are fed a fatty substance with nutrients, which is produced in the upper parts of the parents' digestive tract. When the chick grows up, it begins to feed on its own along with the main group of birds in the so-called “nursery”.
Flamingos have only a few natural enemies. IN wildlife they live up to the age of 20-30 years, in captivity they live for more than 30 years.
Habitats:
Flamingos are native to North and South America, Africa and Asia. Fossils show that they were once common over much large areas, including North America, Europe and Australia.
Pink flamingos They live in Africa, southern Europe and southwestern Asia. Lesser flamingos found in Africa and northern parts Indian subcontinent. Chilean flamingos found in southwestern South America. Caribbean flamingos can be found in the Caribbean, northern South America, the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and Galapagos Islands. In Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina live Andean flamingo And James's flamingo.
These birds prefer to live near salty shallow lakes, in coastal lagoons, on shallows and near estuaries.
Security status:
Least Concern: Pink flamingo, Caribbean flamingo
Those in a state of near-threat: Chilean flamingo, Lesser flamingo, James's flamingo
Vulnerable: Andean flamingo
The Andean flamingo population is in severe decline due to loss of habitat and environmental quality.
In East Africa, flamingos group in gigantic flocks of more than a million individuals, forming the largest flocks of birds on the planet.
Of all the flamingo species, only the Andean flamingo has yellow legs.
The ancient Romans highly valued flamingo tongue as a delicacy. Flamingo eggs also feed on different parts Sveta.
It is still not clear exactly why flamingos stand on one leg. According to one version, they pull one leg out cold water, which helps them save heat. When resting, they often bend one leg, which seems very comfortable for them.
Flamingo(lat. Phoenicopterus) is a genus of long-legged birds, which is the only representative of the order Flamingidae and the family Flamingidae. Flamingos cannot be confused with any other bird due to the peculiarities of their body structure and the amazing color of their plumage.
It's pretty large birds(height 120-145 cm, weight 2100 - 4100 g, wingspan 149-165 cm), and females are smaller than males and have shorter legs. The flamingo's head is small, its beak is massive and in the middle part is sharply (knee-shaped) bent downwards. Unlike most birds, in flamingos the movable part of the beak is the lower part, and not top part. Along the edges of the mandible and mandible there are small horny plates and denticles that form a filtering apparatus.
Flamingos have very long legs, with 4 toes, the three front ones being connected by a swimming membrane. The plumage of these birds is loose and soft. The color of the plumage of different subspecies of flamingos ranges from soft pink to intense red, the tips of the wings are black. The pink and red color of the plumage is due to the presence of pigments in the tissues - fat-like dyes of the carotenoid group. Birds obtain these substances from food, from various crustaceans.
In captivity, after 1-2 years, the pink-red tint of plumage usually disappears due to a monotonous diet. But if you specifically add red carotenoids contained in carrots and beets to flamingos’ food, the birds’ color always remains rich. Young birds are gray-brown; they “put on” their adult plumage only in the third year of life.
The issue of flamingo classification has been the subject of debate among experts for many years. Flamingos have General characteristics with different groups of birds, and it remains unclear which group they are most closely related to. They are anatomically similar to storks, and behavioral characteristics are more similar to waterfowl such as geese.
Until recently, flamingos were classified as members of the order Cioriformes, but scientists have come to the conclusion that flamingos should be placed in a separate order - Flamingos (lat. Phoenicopteriformes).
The number of species is still debated, but most taxonomists divide the Flamingidae family into six species:
- Common flamingo- lives in Africa, southern Europe and southwestern Asia.
- Red flamingo- inhabits the Caribbean, northern South America, the Yucatan Peninsula and the Galapagos Islands.
- Chilean flamingo- found in the southwestern regions of South America.
- Lesser flamingo- found in the territory African continent, in the northwestern part of India and eastern regions Pakistan.
- Andean flamingo And Flamingo James- live in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
The largest of the species is the Common Flamingo, its height reaches from 1.2 to 1.5 meters, weight – up to 3.5 kg. The smallest species is the Lesser Flamingo, which is 80 cm in height and weighs about 2.5 kg.
Flamingos belong to one of the most ancient bird families. Fossil remains of flamingos closest to modern forms, date back to 30 million years ago, while fossils of more primitive species have been found dating back over 50 million years.
The fossils were discovered in places where flamingos are no longer seen today - some parts of Europe, North America and Australia. This indicates that they had a much wider range in the past.
The six species of flamingos are divided into two groups based on the size and shape of their beaks. The beaks of the Common, Red and Chilean flamingos have widely spaced plates that allow them to feed on small crustaceans, mollusks, insects, plant seeds and small fish.
Birds from the second group - Andean, Lesser and James's flamingos are more limited in their diet due to the narrow distance between the beak plates. These types of flamingos are able to eat only small food (in particular algae and plankton), filtering it.
Thanks to a special diet rich in carotenes, the plumage of flamingos becomes pink. All flamingos, except the northern populations, lead a sedentary lifestyle. Flamingos wait until the rainy season to hatch their chicks. Heavy rains not only provide them with food and building material for the nest, but also protect from predators. The basis of the pink flamingo's diet is the small reddish crustacean Artemia and its eggs. In addition, flamingos feed on other crustaceans, as well as mollusks, insect larvae, and worms. Some species eat blue-green algae and diatoms. They look for food in shallow water areas. Having gone far into the water, with their long legs, flamingos lower their heads under the water and dig with their beaks at the bottom of the reservoir. In this case, the crown of the bird almost touches the bottom, the upper jaw is at the bottom, and the lower jaw is at the top. Flamingos drink salty and fresh water during rain, licking drops of water running down the plumage.
In high cone-shaped nests made of shell rock, silt and mud, flamingos hatch one (rarely two or three) large egg. After two and a half months, the chicks grow up and begin to fly independently, and after three years they can have their own offspring. Flamingos nest in large colonies of up to 20,000 pairs (in India - up to 2,000,000 pairs). The nest is a truncated cone made of silt and gypsum. There are 1-2 eggs in the clutch, which are incubated by the male and female for 27-32 days; both parents also take care of the offspring. The chicks hatch covered in down, sighted and with a straight beak. For two months, parents feed them “belching”, which, in addition to semi-digested food, contains secretions from the glands of the lower part of the esophagus and proventriculus. This liquid is comparable in nutritional value to mammalian milk and is light pink in color due to the presence of carotenoids. The chicks leave the nest a few days after hatching and, at about a month of age, change their first downy plumage to a second one. The chicks left without their parents for a while, having already left the nest, gather in large (up to 200 chicks) groups and are under the supervision of the few “duty teachers” remaining on site. Young people acquire the ability to fly on the 65-75th day of life; at the same age, their filtering apparatus is finally formed.
Flamingos are monogamous; they form pairs according to at least for several years. At nesting sites, birds only protect the nest itself. In the wild, they apparently live up to 30 years, and in captivity even longer (up to 40 years).
Flamingos are sometimes called the “bird of fire” because some have really bright plumage. Sometimes flamingos are called the “bird of dawn” because other species have soft pink plumage. These birds have a very long neck and legs, and, as Professor N.A. Gladkov wrote, “if we talk about relative sizes, the flamingo can rightfully be considered the longest-legged bird in the world.” There are many interesting legends about flamingos. For example, one of them tells that one day water snakes decided to take away their chicks from flamingos. But the birds did not give their chicks to the snakes. Then the snakes began to torture the birds - they began to bite their legs, gradually rising higher and higher. But the birds endured and stood motionless in the water until the chicks grew up. And the chicks, as if knowing what was happening, “tried” to grow faster. It is curious that in this legend, which naturally has nothing to do with the color of the flamingo’s legs, one real detail is noted: flamingo chicks are born helpless, but soon, after two to three days, they become quite independent.
Until recently, flamingos were classified as members of the order Cioriformes, but scientists have come to the conclusion that flamingos should be placed in a separate order - Flamingiformes.
2. The birds got their name from the Latin word flamenco - “fire”, which indicates their bright color.
3. Nowadays, there are 6 species of flamingos on Earth: small, common or pink, Caribbean or red, Chilean, James flamingo and Andean flamingo.
4. Flamingos prefer to live near salty shallow lakes, in coastal lagoons, on shallows and near estuaries.
5. Flamingos belong to one of the most ancient bird families. The fossils of flamingos closest to modern forms date back to 30 million years ago, while fossils of more primitive species have been found to date back more than 50 million years. The fossils were discovered in places where flamingos are no longer seen today - parts of Europe, North America and Australia. This indicates that they had a much wider range in the past.
Pink flamingo
6. Pink flamingo is the most common type of flamingo. Common or pink flamingos live in Africa, southern Europe and southwest Asia. They are the largest among flamingos. The pink flamingo reaches 1.2-1.5 meters in height and weighs up to 4 kilograms.
7. This is also the only species of flamingo that lives in the territory of the former Soviet Union in Kazakhstan (Lake Tengiz, Lake Chelkartengiz and Lake Ashitastysor).
8. In Europe, flamingos nest in the Camargue nature reserve, at the mouth of the Rhone River (Southern France), as well as in Las Marismas in Southern Spain. In Africa, the bird nests on the lakes of Morocco, Southern Tunisia, Northern Mauritania, Kenya, the Cape Verde Islands, and the south of the continent. It also lives in the lakes of Southern Afghanistan (at an altitude of up to 3000 m) and North-West India (Kutch), and recently nested in Sri Lanka.
9. Flamingos do not nest in Russia, but are regularly observed during migrations - at the mouth of the Volga River, in Dagestan, Kalmykia, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. It also flies to the south of Siberia in the Altai Territory, Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk region, Buryatia, Irkutsk region, Yakutia, Primorye, Ural. Flamingos flying through Russia winter in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
10. It is estimated that an ordinary flamingo eats up to a quarter of its own weight in food per day. A colony of half a million pink flamingos in India consumes approximately 145 tons of food per day.
Lesser flamingo
11. The lesser flamingo lives in Africa and the northern parts of India, it is the smallest of the flamingos. The small flamingo reaches just over 0.8 meters in length and weighs an average of 2.5 kilograms.
12. Pink flamingos have the palest feather colors, while Caribbean flamingos are famous for their bright pink, almost red feathers.
13. The pink or red color of flamingo plumage is given by lipochrome dyes, which birds receive along with food.
14. Flamingos are social birds that live in groups of different sizes. They gather in flocks when they fly from place to place, and also prefer to stay in groups when they are on the ground.
15. When eating, flamingos lower their heads under the water, draw in water with their beaks, sifting out the nutritious foods they eat, and the water comes out through their beaks. Tiny, hair-like filters help filter out food and release water. One study found that a special float that supports the bird's head allows it to feed by turning its head upside down and holding it on the surface of the water.
Caribbean (red) flamingo
16. Caribbean flamingos can be found in the Caribbean, northern South America, Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the Galapagos Islands.
17. The long legs of flamingos help them walk along the bottom even at relatively great depths in search of food, which gives them some advantages over other birds.
18. The ancient Romans highly valued flamingo tongue as a delicacy. Flamingos also eat meat and eggs in different parts of the world.
19. Flamingos can also be found on high mountain lakes. In addition, they can tolerate very large temperature changes.
20. Equality reigns in the family lifestyle of flamingos. Here both the male and the female participate in the process of bearing and then raising the chicks. Male flamingos incubate the eggs laid by the female along with their mate.
Chilean flamingo
21. Chilean flamingos are found in southwestern South America.
22. Flamingos have a massive, downward curved beak, which is movable Bottom part, which distinguishes it from other birds.
23. Males are generally larger than females and have much more long legs.
24. Average age flamingos are approximately 30 years old. These birds live longer in nature reserves and zoos than in the wild.
25. Flamingos have loud and shrill screams.
Flamingo James
26. James's flamingos live only in South America: in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
27. These birds can fly, but to get off the ground, they need a short run. During flight, they extend their long necks and legs in one straight line.
28. When in danger, flamingos take off, and it is difficult for a predator to choose a specific victim from them, especially since the flight feathers on the wings are always black, and when flying they make it difficult to focus on the prey.
29.Flamingos can float well, although not very deep. However, it is almost impossible to catch them doing this - they prefer to walk, swaying smoothly from side to side, rather than bathe their feathers in water.
30. We can safely say about graceful flamingos that they go from one extreme to another. So, these unusual and beautiful birds live either in hot volcanic lakes or in icy water.
Andean flamingo
31. The Andean flamingo lives in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia.
32. Of all the flamingo species, only the Andean flamingo has yellow legs.
33. The Andean flamingo population is in severe decline due to loss of habitat and environmental quality.
34. Not only do flamingos eat sand and dirt from the water, they also do not breathe while eating.
35. Flamingos lay one egg at a time. Both females and males incubate it in turn. The chick that appears after 30 days is called a chick. At first it is gray or White color, which does not change until two years.
Flamingo chick
36. By appearance A flamingo chick is not much different from the young of other birds. Even his beak is very ordinary, not curved.
37.Flamingo chicks are picky eaters. Meat, fish or insects are not suitable for them - everything that other birds feed their offspring with. And they cannot get plankton, because their beaks are straight from birth. The proud curve is visible only at the age of two weeks, but both before and after that - for two whole months - the babies are fed by their parents. Like pigeons, they produce a liquid secretion - “bird milk”, only red. It is secreted by special glands lining the esophagus. It contains a lot of fat, protein, blood and some plankton.
38. Milk is produced not only by females, but also by males, but the most interesting thing is that its production is controlled by the same hormone as in all mammals, including humans.
39.Each flamingo family has only one chick, but the birds take care of all the children living in the colony. In this they are similar to penguins: flamingos also have “kindergartens”, where the chicks, under the supervision of teachers on duty, spend all the time while their parents get food. There can be up to 200 chicks in such a group, but any parent quickly finds their child by their voice.
40. A flock of flamingos can fly at speeds of up to 35 miles (about 56 km) per hour.
41. Flamingos pair up during mating season, but find other partners the following season.
42. The female and male build a nest together. The nest is usually built from mud and is about 0.3 meters high. The height allows you to protect it from floods and the very heated surface of the earth.
43. The female lays only one egg per season, which is guarded by both parents. After the chick hatches, both parents are also responsible for feeding it.
44. The hatched chicks have gray feathers, pink beaks and legs. They do not acquire the characteristic pink color of their feathers until they are 2 years old.
45. Flamingos cannot be confused with any other bird due to the peculiarities of their body structure and the amazing color of their plumage. These are quite large birds (height 120-145 cm, weight 2100-4100 g, wingspan 149-165 cm), and females are smaller than males and have shorter legs. The flamingo's head is small, its beak is massive and in the middle part is sharply (knee-shaped) bent downwards.
46. In East Africa, flamingos group in giant flocks of more than a million individuals, forming the largest flocks of birds on the planet.
47. Flamingos can handle even extreme situations natural conditions, in which few other animal species survive. For example, they are found near very salty or alkaline lakes. This is due to the presence of a large population of crustaceans (such as brine shrimp) in highly saline reservoirs, where fish do not live due to high salinity. Crustaceans are the main food of flamingos.
48. Flamingos have a habit of sleeping on one leg. They use this technique to save energy and conserve heat.
49.Flamingos’ legs are not covered with feathers, so they freeze in the wind, trying to warm one or the other in turn. In fact, their body is designed in such a way that a flamingo easily stands on one leg, holding it straight, without using muscular strength.
50. Flamingos are omnivores: they eat both plants and meat. The mollusks and algae that they get from water bodies contain carotenes - coloring substances that make their feathers pink or orange.
A short story about the flamingo bird, which in the regions of Russia can only be found in zoos. The mesmerizing beauty and extraordinary grace are sung even in the song “Pink Flamingo,” which everyone has heard. Let's talk in more detail about these birds, what are they?
Flamingos have long legs - stilts with webbed toes and an extremely long neck. Despite their size, they feed on small crustaceans and plants that are found in the water of shallow lakes.
Flamingo is all about the beautiful bird:
My long neck they sink to the surface of the water. The beak has many thin filter plates in which food gets stuck when the bird squeezes water through the beak with its fleshy tongue.
When and where flamingos nest depends on the availability of food. Therefore, no one knows in advance whether they will be busy Famous places nesting in certain time. When the young are 5 days old, they leave the mound-shaped nest of mud and join the " kindergarten" These groups can include hundreds of chicks and are designed to protect them from enemies. Adult birds feed their young, and first of all their own, which they recognize by their voice and behavior.
In addition to the common flamingo, which has several nesting sites in Southern Europe, the dwarf flamingo lives in Africa. The other three species are common in the Americas: the Chilean flamingo, the yellow-legged or Andean flamingo and the short-billed flamingo. All 5 species of flamingos together form their own order of flamingos.
What size is a flamingo bird?
Length 1.40 m, weight 2-4 kg. Males are heavier than females.
Signs: Reddish plumage, wings black and red above, with a black and white pattern below. Red downturned beak.
What does a flamingo eat:
Filters small animals from water.
Reproduction:
It nests in colonies, builds hill-shaped nests from mud, with a depression on top. One pale blue egg, hatched for 4 weeks, hatches at any time of year depending on water conditions and food availability.
Where does the flamingo bird live:
Shallow lakes and lagoons at sea. Breeding sites in Europe are only in the south of France and Spain, as well as in Africa, South Asia and Central America.
Watch the video of the flamingo bird:
Flamingo is all about beautiful bird Flamingo is all about the beautiful bird
“This is a wonderful bird,” this is how the Russian traveler Grigory Karelin, who studied the nature of Kazakhstan in the 19th century, spoke of the red-billed flamingo. “In appearance, she is the same among birds as a camel among four-legged animals,” Karelin explained his thought.
Description of flamingo
Indeed, the appearance of the bird is remarkable - a large body, very high legs and neck, a characteristic curved beak and amazing pink plumage. The family Phoenicopteridae (flamingos) includes 4 species, combined into 3 genera: some ornithologists believe that there are still five species. Two genera have long since become extinct.
The oldest fossilized remains of flamingos have been discovered in Great Britain. The smallest representatives of the family are small flamingos (weighing 2 kg and less than 1 m tall), and the most popular are Phoenicopterus ruber (common flamingos), growing up to 1.5 m and weighing 4–5 kg.
Appearance
The flamingo rightfully bears the title of not only the longest-legged, but also the longest-necked bird.. The flamingo has a small head, but a huge beak, larger than it and curved downwards, in which (unlike most birds) it is not the mandible that moves, but the suprabeak. The edges of the massive beak are equipped with horny plates and denticles, with the help of which birds filter the liquid to obtain food.
This is interesting! Its neck (in relation to the size of its body) is longer and thinner than that of a swan, which is why the flamingo gets tired of holding it straight and periodically throws it over its back so that the muscles can rest.
There are also horny plates on the upper surface of the thick, fleshy tongue. In flamingos, the upper half of the lower leg is feathered, and the tarsus is almost three times as long as the latter. A developed swimming membrane is noticeable between the front toes, and the rear toe is very small or absent. The plumage is loose and soft. There are unfeathered areas on the head - rings around the eyes, chin and frenulum. The wings are of moderate length, wide, edged with black (not always).
The short tail consists of 12–16 tail feathers, with the middle pair being the longest. Not all flamingo species are shades of red (from soft pink to purple), but sometimes they are off-white or gray.
Lipochromes, coloring pigments that enter the body along with food, are responsible for coloring. The wingspan is 1.5 m. When molting, which lasts a month, the flamingo loses its wing feathers and becomes absolutely vulnerable, losing the ability to take off when in danger.
Character and lifestyle
Flamingos are rather phlegmatic birds, wandering in shallow water from morning to night in search of food and occasionally resting. They communicate with each other using sounds reminiscent of the cackling of geese, only deeper and louder. At night, the voice of a flamingo is heard like a trumpet melody.
When threatened by a predator or a person in a boat, the flock first moves to the side and then rises into the air. True, acceleration is difficult - the bird runs about five meters through the shallow water, flapping its wings, and once soaring, takes a few more “steps” along the water surface.
This is interesting! If you look at the flock from below, it seems that crosses are flying across the sky - in the air the flamingo stretches its neck forward and straightens its long legs.
Flying flamingos are also compared to an electric garland, whose links either flash bright red or go out, showing the observer the dark colors of the plumage. Flamingos, despite their exotic beauty, can live in conditions that depress other animals, for example, near salty/alkaline lakes.
There is no fish here, but there are many small crustaceans (artemia) - the main food of flamingos. Birds are saved from an aggressive environment by thick skin on their legs and visits to fresh water bodies, where flamingos wash off salt and quench their thirst. Moreover, they are not with
How long does a flamingo live?
According to ornithologists, in the wild birds live up to 30–40 years. In captivity, lifespan almost doubles. They say that in one of the reserves there is a flamingo that celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Standing on one leg
This know-how was not invented by flamingos - many long-legged birds (including storks) practice standing on one leg to minimize heat loss in windy weather.
This is interesting! The fact that the bird quickly gets cold is to blame for its exorbitantly long legs, which are deprived of life-saving plumage almost to the top. That is why the flamingo is forced to press and warm one or the other leg.
From the outside, the position seems extremely uncomfortable, but the flamingo itself does not feel any discomfort at all. The supporting limb remains extended without the application of any muscular force, since it does not bend due to a special anatomical device.
The same mechanism works when a flamingo sits on a branch: tendons on legs bent stretch and force your fingers to tightly clasp the branch. If the bird falls asleep, the “grip” does not loosen, preventing it from falling from the tree.
Range, habitats
Flamingos are found primarily in tropical and subtropical regions:
- Africa;
- Asia;
- America (Central and South);
- Southern Europe.
Thus, several extensive colonies of the common flamingo have been spotted in the south of France, Spain and Sardinia. Although bird colonies often number hundreds of thousands of flamingos, no species has a continuous range. Nesting occurs scatteredly, in areas sometimes thousands of kilometers apart..
Flamingos usually settle along the shores of shallow salty bodies of water or on sea shallows, trying to stay in open landscapes. They nest both on high-mountain lakes (Andes) and on plains (Kazakhstan). Birds generally lead a sedentary (less often wandering) lifestyle. Only populations of common flamingos living in northern countries migrate.
Flamingo diet
The peaceful nature of flamingos is spoiled when the birds have to fight for food. At this moment, good neighborly relations cease, turning into the division of abundant territories.
The diet of flamingos consists of such organisms and plants as:
- small crustaceans;
- shellfish;
- insect larvae;
- water worms;
- algae, including diatoms.
The narrow food specialization is reflected in the structure of the beak: its upper part is equipped with a float that supports the head in the water.
The stages of nutrition alternate rapidly and look like this:
- Looking for plankton, the bird turns its head so that the beak is at the bottom.
- The flamingo opens its beak, scooping up water, and slams it shut.
- The water is pushed through the filter apparatus by the tongue, and the food is swallowed.
The gastronomic selectivity of flamingos is further narrowed by certain species. Thus, James's flamingos eat flies, snails and diatoms. The lesser flamingo eats exclusively blue-green algae and diatoms, switching to rotifers and artemia only when water bodies dry out.
This is interesting! By the way, the pink color of the plumage depends on the presence of red crustaceans containing carotenoids in the food. The more crustaceans, the more intense the coloring.
Reproduction and offspring
Despite the rather late fertility (5–6 years), females are able to lay eggs as early as 2 years. When nesting, flamingo colonies grow to half a million birds, and the nests themselves are no more than 0.5–0.8 m apart from each other.
Nests (of silt, shell rock and mud) are not always built in shallow water; sometimes the flamingo builds them (of feathers, grass and pebbles) in rocky islands or lays eggs directly in the sand, without making any depressions. There are 1–3 eggs in a clutch (usually two), which are incubated by both parents for 30–32 days.
This is interesting! Flamingos sit on a nest with their legs crossed. To stand up, the bird needs to tilt its head, rest its beak on the ground and only then straighten its limbs.
The chicks are born with straight beaks, which begin to bend after 2 weeks, and after another couple of weeks the first fluff changes to a new one. “You’ve already drunk our blood,” perhaps the flamingos who feed them with milk, of which 23% is parental blood, have the right to address this phrase to children.
Milk comparable nutritional value with cow's milk, colored pink and produced by special glands located in the esophagus adult bird. Mother feeding brood bird's milk approximately two months until the chicks’ beaks finally become stronger. As soon as the beak has grown and formed, the young flamingo begins to obtain food on its own.
By the age of 2.5 months, young flamingos take wing, growing to the size of adult birds, and fly away from their parental home. Flamingos are monogamous birds, changing pairs only when a partner dies.
