Greater Flamingo

Greater Flamingo

Greater Flamingo: Tall large wading bird that is entirely pink except for its black-tipped bill that is bent at a curious angle. Sexes similar. Juvenile is gray with a pinkish hue and yellowish bill.

● Song: Greater Flamingo: Flocks chuckle softly amongst themselves, but when alarmed this chorus may grow into deep-throated honking "huh-huh-huh" notes.

● Foraging & Feeding: Greater Flamingo: Wades in deep or shallow water sucking up muddy ooze and straining food out with its odd filter-like bill. Eats all manner of algae, aquatic invertebrates, and small fish. The type of food items a flamingo feeds on determines the quality of its pink coloration. Forages on coastal saltwater mudflats, estuaries and lagoons, nearly always in large gregarious flocks.

● Breeding & nesting: Greater Flamingo: Nests on mudflats in huge colonies of up to 7000 pairs. From March to June, females assisted by males build up mud cones that are about a foot in height and width with a hollowed top. The single white egg is incubated by both parents for 28 to 32 days. After hatching all the chicks in a colony gather together in a group called a crèche for safety. Not able to fly until at least 75 days old.

● Similar species: Greater Flamingo: Roseate Spoonbill has a white neck and gray flattened "spoon bill." Scarlet Ibis is much smaller and has a long slender curving bill. Other species of flamingos that are kept in captivity occasionally escape. Separating flamingo species is difficult but other species are generally paler in color.

Flight Pattern