Meet the World's Flamingoes

Flamingoes are a group of six birds which are part of the family, Phoenicopteridae. This is the only family in the order Phoenicopteriformes.

They are similar in appearance having long legs ending with webbed feet that allow them to wade easily through the water.

Their feathers are colored pink but when they hatch they are grey and if they lose a feather it will quickly lose its color. This is because their color comes from their food. To keep this color in zoos they may be provided with food coloring as a supplement to their diet.

At birth a hatchling will be grey or white taking between one and two years to develop the adult coloration.

A group of flamingoes is known as a flock or flamboyance. Each flamingo flock may include as many as tens of thousands of birds. Sometimes flocks may be mixed between two species.

In Africa lesser flamingoes form the largest known flock of any bird today with as many as one million birds gathering.

It is thought that the most common flamingo species is the lesser flamingo with up to 2.5 million of them and the least common being the Andean flamingo with around 33,000 birds remaining.

Between 15 and 30% of a flamingoes day is spent preening. They distribute oil which is secreted from a gland at the base of their tail using their bill.

In ancient Rome the flamingoes tongue was viewed as a delicacy.

Flamingoes are well known for their habitat of standing on one leg with the other tucked up against their body.

The joint in the middle of the leg which is often thought of as a 'knee' is actually the ankle joint. Their true knee is located up higher on the body and is hidden under the feathers.

Their nest is made of mud and formed in to a cone shape. Once per year they deposit a raise a single egg in this nest. At hatching the young lack the curve in their beak. This will develop over the first few months of life.

A Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis)

By Thomas Fuhrmann – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Record Breakers

World's largest Flamingo

The largest of the six flamingo species is the greater flamingo which reaches a height of 1.2-1.45m (3.9-4.7ft) and a weight of 2.1-4.1kg (4.6-9lbs).

World's smallest Flamingo

At just 80-90cm (2.6-2.9ft) tall the lesser flamingo is the smallest of the six flamingo species. Their weight averages 1.5-2kg (3.3-4.4lbs).

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Christian Ferrer / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA

Flamingo Species - A full list of the 6 species

An American (Caribbean) Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)

Public domain

Species Profiles - A detailed fact file on some of the world's flamingo species