Flamingo is any of a group of wading birds with long thin legs and a long swanlike neck. Flamingos inhabit tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world and live near shallow, usually brackish lakes and lagoons. Flamingos have a short tail, large wings, long legs, and webbed feet. They may stand more than 5 feet tall. Their plumage ranges from pinkish white to deep crimson, and their wings have black flight feathers. Flamingos honk like geese. When the flamingo feeds, it inverts its large down-curved bill under the water so that the bottom half is uppermost. Along each side of the top half of the bill is a band of thin slits. By pumping water and mud through the slits, the bird strains out the insects, fish, and mollusks on which it feeds. Flamingos are the only group of birds that use this method of feeding, which is known as filter feeding.
Flamingos nest in large colonies, which sometimes consist of several thousand birds. They lay one or two white eggs in flattened cone-shaped mud nests.
In ancient Rome, flamingo tongues were considered a great delicacy. The birds have also been long hunted for their beautiful plumage, and in some parts of the world they are protected by law to prevent their extinction. One of the best-known and most widespread species is the greater flamingo (
Phoenicopterus ruber), which is found in the West Indies, South America. Eurasia, and Africa. The only breeding colony of flamingos in the United States is a semidomesticated colony near Hialeah Racetrack in southern Florida.
Flamingos are classified as order Ciconiiformes.; family Phoenicopteridae, genus
Phoenicopterus.
Flock of flamingos
