25-10-2024 RACO DE OLLA, ALBUFERA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species.

Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

22-9-2024 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species.

Population size

550-680 Thou

Life Span

40-60years

Top speed

59

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

2-4

kglbs

kg lbs 

Height

110-150

cminch

cm inch 

Length

80-150

cminch

Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

3-4-2016 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Greater flamingos are very social. They travel in groups numbering up to thousands and they communicate by using visual and auditory cues. Greater flamingos are partially dispersive and migratory. They are traveling constantly, seeking areas with enough resources to sustain the whole flock, especially during the mating season. Greater flamingos keep their chicks together in crèches. Adults supervising crèches tend to act in a hostile way toward hatchlings if their own young are not in that crèche. Greater flamingos are diurnal, feeding during the day. Being bottom feeders, they rely on water levels that are low, and they move to new areas to find appropriate feeding conditions. They often bathe in fresh shallow water and preen their feathers to remove salt from them. They are not territorial birds but during breeding season they do defend their nests.

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species.

Population size

550-680 Thou

Life Span

40-60years

Top speed

59

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

2-4

kglbs

kg lbs 

Height

110-150

cminch

cm inch 

Length

80-150

cminch

Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

31-7-2024 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

 ..

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.

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, 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).

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".

26-6-2024 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species.

Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

Greater flamingos are very social. They travel in groups numbering up to thousands and they communicate by using visual and auditory cues. Greater flamingos are partially dispersive and migratory. They are traveling constantly, seeking areas with enough resources to sustain the whole flock, especially during the mating season. Greater flamingos keep their chicks together in crèches. Adults supervising crèches tend to act in a hostile way toward hatchlings if their own young are not in that crèche. Greater flamingos are diurnal, feeding during the day. Being bottom feeders, they rely on water levels that are low, and they move to new areas to find appropriate feeding conditions. They often bathe in fresh shallow water and preen their feathers to remove salt from them. They are not territorial birds but during breeding season they do defend their nests.

Greater flamingos are serially monogamous birds, forming pair bonds that remain together only for a single breeding season. They breed in dense colonies numbering up to 20,000 or more pairs. They perform spectacular group displays of courtship, involving ritualized preening, synchronized wing-raising, and head-flagging, where they raise their necks and beaks and turn their heads from side to side. Breeding seasons vary with location, occurring in some areas at irregular intervals, following the rains. Nest-building is done in pairs. A single chalky-white egg is laid, rarely two. Both parents share the incubation of 27-31 days. After several days of being brooded by both parents, the chick joins a crèche with many other chicks. Both parents feed the chick, with the typical milk that is secreted in the adults' upper digestive tract. Chicks fledge between 65 and 90 days after hatching and become reproductively mature between 4 and 6 years of age.

Greater flamingos are threatened by human disturbance and lowering water levels, which increases the salinity of sites where they feed and so can affect food resources, or cause thick soda deposits which can harm the legs of chicks. The potential effects of climate change on rainfall and sea level may therefore impact breeding sites seriously in the future. Further threats to greater flamingos include disease, pollution, lead poisoning (from the ingesting of lead shot), and habitat loss as a result of industrial and harbor development or drainage of the wetlands for agriculture. Large numbers of greater flamingos in Egypt are shot or captured for sale in markets, and the collection of eggs remains a threat in some areas, such as Algeria.

4-6-2024 EL FONDO, ALICANTE - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. The Greater flamingo was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo, but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species.

Greater flamingos have an attractive coloration and appearance. Their feathers are pinkish/white, the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. They have long pink bills with a black tip, yellow eyes and long pink legs. The male is bigger than the female, and juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.

The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries. Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.

Greater flamingos are very social. They travel in groups numbering up to thousands and they communicate by using visual and auditory cues. Greater flamingos are partially dispersive and migratory. They are traveling constantly, seeking areas with enough resources to sustain the whole flock, especially during the mating season. Greater flamingos keep their chicks together in crèches. Adults supervising crèches tend to act in a hostile way toward hatchlings if their own young are not in that crèche. Greater flamingos are diurnal, feeding during the day. Being bottom feeders, they rely on water levels that are low, and they move to new areas to find appropriate feeding conditions. They often bathe in fresh shallow water and preen their feathers to remove salt from them. They are not territorial birds but during breeding season they do defend their nests.

Greater flamingos are serially monogamous birds, forming pair bonds that remain together only for a single breeding season. They breed in dense colonies numbering up to 20,000 or more pairs. They perform spectacular group displays of courtship, involving ritualized preening, synchronized wing-raising, and head-flagging, where they raise their necks and beaks and turn their heads from side to side. Breeding seasons vary with location, occurring in some areas at irregular intervals, following the rains. Nest-building is done in pairs. A single chalky-white egg is laid, rarely two. Both parents share the incubation of 27-31 days. After several days of being brooded by both parents, the chick joins a crèche with many other chicks. Both parents feed the chick, with the typical milk that is secreted in the adults' upper digestive tract. Chicks fledge between 65 and 90 days after hatching and become reproductively mature between 4 and 6 years of age.

Greater flamingos are threatened by human disturbance and lowering water levels, which increases the salinity of sites where they feed and so can affect food resources, or cause thick soda deposits which can harm the legs of chicks. The potential effects of climate change on rainfall and sea level may therefore impact breeding sites seriously in the future. Further threats to greater flamingos include disease, pollution, lead poisoning (from the ingesting of lead shot), and habitat loss as a result of industrial and harbor development or drainage of the wetlands for agriculture. Large numbers of greater flamingos in Egypt are shot or captured for sale in markets, and the collection of eggs remains a threat in some areas, such as Algeria.

19-3-2015 JURONG, SINGAPORE - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

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.

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.

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, 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).

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".

 

8-11-2023 SUECA, ALBUFERA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, 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).

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". 

11-10-2023 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Greater flamingos are very social. They travel in groups numbering up to thousands and they communicate by using visual and auditory cues. Greater flamingos are partially dispersive and migratory. They are traveling constantly, seeking areas with enough resources to sustain the whole flock, especially during the mating season. Greater flamingos keep their chicks together in crèches. Adults supervising crèches tend to act in a hostile way toward hatchlings if their own young are not in that crèche. Greater flamingos are diurnal, feeding during the day. Being bottom feeders, they rely on water levels that are low, and they move to new areas to find appropriate feeding conditions. They often bathe in fresh shallow water and preen their feathers to remove salt from them. They are not territorial birds but during breeding season they do defend their nests.

6-10-2023 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, 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).

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".

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. 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. 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.

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, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms, and mollusks. The greater flamingo feeds with its head down, its upper jaw movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.

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

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

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).

 

5-7-2023 EL PINET, ALICANTE - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

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.

21-6-2023 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The adult greater flamingo is predominantly pale pink and white with an elongated neck, narrow wings and long pale pink legs. Primary and secondary flight feathers are black and the lesser and median wing coverts are a bright red in colour, contrasting with the remainder of the wing area which is pale pink. The bill is chunky, pink in colour and curving downwards to a black tip; the eyes are bright yellow. Males and females are identical in plumage colouring and patternation but the female is up to one fifth smaller overall. In flight the neck is extended forwards in a straight line and the legs assume an almost mirror image trailing backwards. Juveniles mostly lack the pinkish colour of the adult being mainly greyish brown overall with dark grey brown legs and bill and brownish wings and tail. Traces of pink may be seen on the underparts of young birds.

 

23-4-2023 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/73222-Phoenicopterus-roseus

The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe.

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, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms, and mollusks. The greater flamingo feeds with its head down, and its upper jaw is movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.

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

18-10-2022 EL PINET, ALICANTE - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/73222-Phoenicopterus-roseus

21-9-2022 EL SALER, VALENCIA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/73222-Phoenicopterus-roseus

14-9-2022 EL SALER, ALBUFERA - GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/73222-Phoenicopterus-roseus