Flamingo

Flamingos have thin long legs, a flexible neck and plumage , the color of which varies from white to red. Their particular distinguishing feature is the massive beak curved downwards, with the help of which they filter food from water or silt . Unlike most other birds, the moving part of the beak in a flamingo is not the lower, but the upper part. The front toes are connected by a swimming membrane. The pink or red color of the plumage of the flamingos is given by the coloring substances lipochromes , which birds receive with food. In danger, they take off, and it is difficult for a predator to choose a specific victim from them, especially since the feathers on the wings are always black, and when flying, they make it difficult to focus on the victim. In zoos, flamingos do not lose their unique color of plumage, as various carotene- containing foods are added to their food: grated carrots , bell peppers and, most importantly, small crustaceans.

Flamingos are common in Africa , the Caucasus ( Azerbaijan ), Southeast and Central Asia , as well as in South and Central America .

Colonies of pink, or common, flamingos also exist in southern Spain , France, and Sardinia . This species is the largest and most common species in the family. Its height reaches 130 cm and it is found on all continents of the Old World .

Flamingos live in large colonies along the banks of shallow reservoirs or lagoons . Colonies of flamingos often number hundreds of thousands of individuals. However, poaching and the ruin of flamingo nests have led to a worldwide decline in their population . Flamingos are mainly sedentary, only the northern populations of pink flamingos are migratory.

Flamingos can even cope with extreme environmental conditions in which only a few other species of animals survive. For example, they are found in very salty or alkaline lakes. This is due to the presence of a large population of crustaceans (such as brine shrimp ) in highly saline reservoirs, where fish do not live due to high salinity. Crustaceans are the main food of flamingos. Flamingos can also be found on high mountain lakes. In addition, they can tolerate very large temperature changes.

Dense skin on their legs allows them to be in an aggressive environment . Pathogenic microorganisms develop in the surrounding water due to bird droppings, and even a slight scratch on the skin can lead to inflammation. From time to time, birds visit freshwater springs near a feeding place to quench their thirst and flush salt.

Flamingo food consists of small crustaceans , insect larvae , worms , mollusks and algae , which they find in shallow water. Their pink color comes from small red crustaceans that contain a carotenoid ^[2] . They specialize in only a few types of prey, and this is reflected in the form of their beak, which helps them in this. Looking for food, flamingos turn their heads so that the upper beak is below. The beak has a float that supports the head in the upper layers of water, especially rich in plankton . Picking up water in his mouth and closing his beak, the bird pushes water through the strainer located on the beak, and swallows the food. All stages of nutrition alternate very quickly.

The natural enemies of flamingos are foxes , wolves , jackals and large feathered predators - eagles and falcons , often settling near colonies. Sometimes other predators attack them.

One to three (usually one) large white eggs hatch in the sludge seal. Flamingos arrange high (up to 60 cm ) conical nests of silt, mud and shell rock in shallow water. Chicks are born well developed, active, and after a few days leave the nest. Parents feed young flamingos with bird's milk , which is colored pink, since it consists of 23% of the blood of the parent. This food is secreted by special glands in the esophagus of adult birds and is comparable in nutritional value to mammalian milk. The chicks feed on it for two months, until the beak of the chicks grows so much that they become able to independently filter food from the water. At the age of two and a half months, young flamingos reach the size of adult birds and become winged.

Standing on one leg flamingos, storks and other long-legged birds are used to minimize heat loss during wind ^[3] . This loss through legs uncovered with feathers due to their unfavorable ratio of volume to surface is large enough, so the birds try to keep their legs alternately in the heat of a well-insulated plumage.

What from the outside seems an extremely uncomfortable and difficult posture, flamingos require absolutely no effort. A special physiological device prevents bending of the supporting leg, due to which the leg remains elongated even without the use of muscular force.

A similar mechanism prevents the bird from falling off the branch if it falls asleep. When a bird climbs a branch and, sitting down, bends its legs, tendons stretch and bend their toes, which tightly wrap around the branch.

In the genus of flamingos, there are six modern species, usually combined into one genus ( Phoenicopterus ):

• Phoenicopterus andinus - Andean Flamingo
• Phoenicopterus chilensis - Chilean Flamingo
• Phoenicoparrus Jamesi - James Flamingo
• Phoeniconaias minor - Lesser Flamingo [ syn. Phoenicopterus minor ]
• Phoenicopterus roseus - Common Flamingo , or Pink Flamingo
• Phoenicopterus ruber - Red Flamingo

Extinct flamingos include:

• Phoenicopterus aethiopicus
• Phoenicopterus copei - (late Pleistocene east of North America and the center of Mexico)
• Phoenicopterus croizeti - (Middle Oligocene - Middle Miocene of Central Europe)
• Phoenicopterus eyrensis - (late Oligocis of southern Australia )
• Phoenicopterus gracilis Miller 1963 (early Pleistocene of Canunka Lake, Australia )
• Phoenicopterus floridanus Brodkorb 1953 - (Early Pliocene Florida )
• Phoenicopterus minutus - (Late Pleistocene California , USA )
• Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae (late Oligocene of southern Australia )
• Phoenicopterus siamensis Cheneval et al. 1991
• Phoenicopterus stocki Miller 1944 - (Middle Pliocene Rincon de Romos , Mexico )

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  Flamingos at the Moscow Zoo

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  Red flamingo in the Moscow zoo

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  Red flamingo in the Moscow zoo

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  Clarification of the relationship between red flamingos. Moscow Zoo.

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  Pink flamingo

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  Pink flamingo

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  Pink flamingos in the zoo of Agadir (Morocco)

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  Chilean flamingos at the zoo of Agadir (Morocco)

• All About Birds / Ed. Sharonova A. - St. Petersburg. : LLC SZKEO, 2007. - P. 166. - 176 p. - ISBN 978-5-9603-0075-9 .

• Flamingo Squad (Phoenicopteri) // Academician Biological Encyclopedia
• Flamingos - the most beautiful birds (47 photos)
• Phylogeny of the Phoenicopteriformes squad on John Boyd's site