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What's Cooler than an Elegant Pink Flamingo


The only Flamingo found in North America is the Greater Flamingo
which is sometimes seen in southern Florida. Although almost every zoo
has a flamingo flock.

The greater flamingo has the most widespread distribution of all flamingo
species. Populations are found in northwest India, the Middle East,
western Mediterranean, and Africa.


Flamingo's necks and legs are longer in proportion to their bodies than
those of any other species. They have long sinuous necks and extremely
long slender legs.

Plumage is pale in color, with darker pink and black wings.

The joint in the middle of the leg that appears to be the knee is actually
the ankle. The knee is located at the top of the leg, just below the body.


Every flamingo does not nest every year. Flamingos typically lay one large,
white egg. The nest is built of mud, small stones, and feathers on the
ground and is in the shape of a volcano. Mounds can be as high as 12 inches.
It can take a pair of flamingos up to six weeks to build their nest. Both
parents will take turns incubating the egg for 26 to 31 days.

Nests are constructed of mud and usually only one egg is laid at a
time which both parents incubate.


Newly hatched chicks have gray or white down feathers, a straight
red bill, and plump, swollen red or pink legs. In these large colonies,
parents can recognize their own chicks by their voice.

When it is about 4 to 7 days old, the chick will fledge.
Within about three years the chicks will turn from gray to pink.


The typical flamingo diet consists of diatoms, seeds, blue-green alage,
crustaceans, and mollusks they filter out of the water. Using their
long legs and partially webbed feet, flamingos will stamp on the
muddy bottom of lagoons to mix the food particles with the water.

Different species of flamingo have slightly different shaped bills; the
different shapes helping it obtain slightly different types of food.


The word flamingo comes from the Latin word for flame

In Through the Looking Glass, Alice used flamingos as croquet mallets.

Picture Flamingos




Flamingos are the only members of the family Phoenicopteridae

Types of Flamingos found worldwide include:

Andean Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
Chilean Flamingo
Greater Flamingo
James Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo


See Also:

Index of North American Birds


Awesomely Adorable Stuffed Plush Flamingos


Eye Catching Flamingo Calendars