The flamingos (family Phoenicopteridae) are a family of birds belonging to the monotypic order Phoenicopteriformes. These wading birds have specialized upside down bills adapted to filtering water mainly for brine shrimp and other plankton on mud. Their food is rich in carotenes, giving them a characteristic pink plumage. They forage in large flocks known as flamboyances, performing synchronized ritualized courtship displays and and breeding colonially in mud nests, feeding the chicks crop milk.
The family comprises 8 species in 4 genera. Genus Phoeniconaias (1 species) is found in the Old World. Genus Phoenicoparrus (2 species) is endemic to highland Andean lagoons. Genus Phoenicopterus (3 species) includes two Neotropical species and one found in Africa, the Mediterranean basin and the Indian Subcontinent.
El Hondo Natural Park, Alicante, Spain, 13 Aug 2023
Lesser flamingo
Phoeniconaias minor
Resident in open woodlands across Subsaharan Africa. This species has been domesticated for centuries, likely since Ancient Egypt times. Populations of feral individuals have established elsewhere, as some individuals I have observed in Madagascar. Within the native range, I have seen this species in moist savanna in Kenya.
Salines de Calp, Alicante, Spain, 22 Aug 2023
Greater flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseus
Endemic to dry savanna and thornscrub of East Africa. Particularly social, often traveling in large flocks that have served as a study model for research on bird behavior and social relationships in Laikipia County, Kenya, where I have observed this species.
