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Greater flamingo

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Not to be confused with Greater (flamingo).

Greater flamingo
male and female in the Camargue
Voice of the greater flamingo
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Phoenicopteriformes
Family: Phoenicopteridae
Genus: Phoenicopterus
Species:
P. roseus
Binomial name
Phoenicopterus roseus
Pallas, 1811
Synonyms
  • Phoenicopterus ruber roseus
  • Phoenicopterus antiquorum[3]

The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Himalayas), the Middle East, the Levant, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe.

Taxonomy

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The greater flamingo was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. It was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species. The greater flamingo has no subspecies and is therefore monotypic.[4]

Description

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The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo,[5] averaging 110–150 cm (43–59 in) tall and weighing 2–4 kg (4.4–8.8 lb). The largest male flamingos have been recorded to be up to 187 cm (74 in) tall and to weigh 4.5 kg (9.9 lb).[6]

Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

Chicks are covered in gray fluffy down. Subadult flamingos are paler with dark legs. Adults feeding chicks also become paler, but retain the bright pink legs. The coloration comes from the carotenoid pigments in the organisms that live in their feeding grounds. Secretions of the uropygial gland also contain carotenoids. During the breeding season, greater flamingos increase the frequency of their spreading uropygial secretions over their feathers and thereby enhance their color. This cosmetic use of uropygial secretions has been described as applying "make-up".[7]

Distribution

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It is found in parts of Northern Africa (including coastal areas of northern Algeria, Egypt further inland along the Nile River, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia), portions of Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda), Southern Asia (coastal Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka), the Middle East (Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) and Southern Europe (including Albania, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, France in the Camargue, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain and the Balearic Islands, and Turkey.[8] The most northern breeding spot is the Zwillbrocker Venn in western Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands. They have been recorded breeding in the United Arab Emirates at three different locations in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.[9] In Gujarat, a coastal state in the west of India, flamingos can be observed at the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, Flamingo City, and in the Thol Bird Sanctuary. They remain there during the entire winter season.[10]

Ecology

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The greater flamingo resides in mudflats and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water. Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, brine shrimp, other crustaceans, seeds (such as rice), blue-green algae, microscopic organisms (such as diatoms), insect larvae (such as chironomids), and mollusks.[11] The greater flamingo feeds with its head down, its upper jaw movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.[12]

Like all flamingos, this species lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.

Lifespan

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The typical lifespan in captivity, according to Basel Zoo, is over 60 years.[13] In the wild, the average lifespan is 30 – 40 years.[14]

Threats and predators

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Natural

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Adult greater flamingos have few natural predators. Eggs and chicks may be eaten by raptors, crows, gulls, and the marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer); an estimated half of the predation of greater flamingo eggs and chicks is from the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).[15][16]

Human

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The primary threats to flamingo populations are bacteria, toxins, and pollution in water supplies, which is usually run-off from manufacturing companies, and encroachment on their habitat.

In human captivity

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The first recorded zoo hatch was in 1959 at Zoo Basel. In Zoo Basel's breeding program, over 400 birds have been hatched with between 20 and 27 per year since 2000.[17] The oldest known greater flamingo was a bird at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia that died at the age of at least 83 years. The bird's exact age is not known; it was already a mature adult when it arrived in Adelaide in 1933. It was euthanized in January 2014 due to complications of old age.[18][19]

  • A subadult (top) with an adult (bottom) in flight
    A subadult (top) with an adult (bottom) in flight
  • In flight at Jamnagar, India
    In flight at Jamnagar, India
  • Colony in the Po River delta, Italy
    Colony in the Po River delta, Italy
  • Resting heads, Bahrain
    Resting heads, Bahrain
  • The skeleton of a greater flamingo
    The skeleton of a greater flamingo
  • A subadult feeding in Walvis Bay, Namibia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ BirdLife International (2019) [amended version of 2018 assessment]. "Phoenicopterus roseus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697360A155527405.en. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ de Klemm, Cyrille; Lausche, Barbara J. (1987). African Wildlife Laws. IUCN. p. 1147. ISBN 2880320917. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  4. ^ del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N.; Garcia, E. F. J. (2020). Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David; De Juana, Eduardo (eds.). "Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.grefla3.01. S2CID 241655366. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  5. ^ Feduccia, Alan (1999). The Origin and Evolution of Birds (illustrated, reprint ed.). Yale University Press. p. 196. ISBN 0300078617. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Greater flamingo" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  7. ^ Amat, J.A.; Rendón, M.A.; Garrido-Fernández, J.; Garrido, A.; Rendón-Martos, M. & Pérez-Gálvez, A. (2011). "Greater flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus use uropygial secretions as make-up". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 65 (4): 665–673. doi:10.1007/s00265-010-1068-z. S2CID 30299643.
  8. ^ "Phoenicopterus roseus". Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
  9. ^ Khan, Shahid; et al. (2017). "Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus): Important wintering sites and breeding records in the United Arab Emirates". Zoology in the Middle East. 63 (3): 194–201. doi:10.1080/09397140.2017.1331586. S2CID 90286615.
  10. ^ Koshti A.J. and Bony L.S (2016). "Ethology of greater flamingo in captivity", Undergraduate thesis submitted to St.Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, India.
  11. ^ Draughn, Holle'. "Phoenicopterus roseus greater flamingo". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Flamingo Feeding". Stanford University. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  13. ^ "Animals-Vögel-Flamingo". Basel Zoo. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Greater Flamingo - Facts, Diet & Habitat Information".
  15. ^ "Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)". Marwell Zoo. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  16. ^ Matthew, Charles. "Flamingos". Birds life. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Zolli feiert 50 Jahre Flamingozucht und Flamingosforschung" [50 years of flamingo breeding]. Basler Zeitung (in German). 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009.
  18. ^ Kelton, Sam (31 January 2014). "Greater, the 83-year-old Adelaide Zoo flamingo, dies". The Advertiser. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  19. ^ Fedorowytsch, Tom (31 January 2014). "Flamingo believed to be world's oldest dies at Adelaide Zoo aged 83". ABC News. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
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