American Flamingo

Overview

The American flamingo is a tall, pink wading bird and the only flamingo that lives naturally in the Americas. It was once treated as the same species as the Old World greater flamingo, but it is now generally considered separate. It is also called the Caribbean flamingo. Two subspecies are recognised: one across the Caribbean and northeast Brazil, and one in the Galápagos.

Distribution & habitat

It lives around the Caribbean, along the northern coast of South America, on the Yucatán Peninsula and in the Galápagos. It favours shallow saline, brackish or alkaline lagoons and coastal wetlands. It is generally non-migratory, but it flies strongly and will travel long distances to find food or breeding sites. Some birds now turn up in Florida and along the Gulf Coast.

Biology & behavior

Flocks can number in the thousands. Large groups perform synchronized head-turning and wing-opening displays, which help bring the whole colony into breeding condition. Wild birds can live for decades.

Feeding

It feeds by straining water and mud through comb-like plates in its bill. This traps small invertebrates such as shrimp, algae and other tiny organisms. Compared with other flamingos it often feeds in deeper water, with its head and much of its neck submerged. Pigments in its food give the feathers their pink colour.

Reproduction

There is no fixed breeding season, because timing follows rainfall and the food supply it brings. Pairs build a volcano-shaped mud nest and lay a single egg. The egg is incubated for about 28 days. Chicks hatch with white down and take several years to turn pink. They later join crèches of young birds. In the Galápagos, small groups nest on piles of stones instead of mud mounds.