Greater Flamingo Identification
Its scientific name is 'Phoenicopterus roseus', from the family Phoenicopteridae (order Phoenicopteriformes)
What I look like
The Greater Flamingo is a large wader with extremely long legs and neck.
It is larger than the White Stork.
It has a large, very curved beak, pink with a black tip.
Its long legs are pink.
Its plumage is white tinged with pink.
Its wings are red and black, especially visible in flight.
Males are often larger and more colorful than females.
Juveniles are brownish with a pale gray beak and dark eyes. They quickly become paler.
One-year-old individuals are dirty white with black wingtips. The pink appears during the second year.
My songs, my calls
The Greater Flamingo produces loud honking sounds that resemble those of greylag geese (especially during nocturnal flights).
In groups, it produces a low grunting noise.
How I behave
The Greater Flamingo fears disturbances.
It is often found in large, tight groups.
From a distance, the group looks like a whitish band on the horizon.
At rest, it often stands on one leg, tucking its head into its plumage.
In flight, the Greater Flamingo has its legs and neck outstretched with the neck slightly drooping.
It flies with rapid and continuous wingbeats.
It can also move by swimming.
How I reproduce
The Greater Flamingo nests in colonies. These colonies are few but very large.
It settles on low islands, sandbanks, muddy shores, and salt lakes.
During breeding, males and females display and engage in various choreographies to show off their bright colors.
To attract mates, the Greater Flamingo can also "apply makeup". By coating its feathers with its own grease, it deposits a pigment, carotene. Thus, those who "apply makeup" more will be more colorful and therefore chosen first.
The parents build a raised mud cup where the single annual egg will be laid.
The chick spends its first days in the nest but quickly joins the others in a "nursery".
Nesting colonies are found in France, Spain, and Italy.
What I eat
The Greater Flamingo feeds on invertebrates and aquatic plants.
The beak is equipped with lamellae that allow it to filter water to catch its food, like the baleen of a whale.
It particularly captures a species of shrimp that gives it its pink color due to the presence of pigments.
It feeds in groups, with its head submerged in water. These groups resemble those of Eurasian Spoonbills.
Sometimes the Greater Flamingo stomps the ground while circling its submerged beak. This creates typical circles in the mud indicating the species' presence.
Rarely, when the water depth allows, the Greater Flamingo can partially dive to filter the water, leaving only its rear end visible and paddling to maintain this position, resembling dabbling ducks.
Where to find me
The Greater Flamingo lives in shallow salt and brackish waters (lagoons, coastal ponds, deltas).
In Europe, it is found around the Mediterranean basin.
It can be sedentary or migratory.
It can live up to thirty-three years.
Its long lifespan is explained by its late reproduction. Although sexual maturity is reached at around 3 or 4 years, it reproduces later, up to about ten years.