Flamingos are tall, pink wading birds. There are six species, living around shallow, often salty lakes and lagoons. They are pink because of carotenoids, natural colours in the algae and shrimps they eat. They feed with their heads upside down, sieving food from the water, and each pair raises one chick on a mud nest.
flamingos quick facts
- Flamingo chicks hatch white-grey with straight bills and take several years to turn pink.
- What looks like a flamingo’s backward knee is really its ankle.
- A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
- Flamingo parents feed their chick crop milk made in the throat.
- A flamingo nest is a mud mound 12 to 24 inches high with a single egg on top.
What is a flamingo?
Flamingos are tall wading birds with long, thin legs, a long bendy neck and a bill that bends sharply downwards in the middle. They are famous for their pink feathers.
There are six living species. Between them, they live in Africa, South America, the Middle East and the Caribbean, usually beside shallow lakes and lagoons.
Flamingos are very social birds. They feed, travel and nest in groups, and some of those groups are enormous.
The six kinds of flamingo
Scientists recognise six species of flamingo. They differ in size, in the details of their colouring and in where they live.
| Species | Scientific name | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Greater flamingo | Phoenicopterus roseus | the largest species |
| Lesser flamingo | Phoeniconaias minor | the smallest species |
| Chilean flamingo | Phoenicopterus chilensis | lives in South America |
| Andean flamingo | Phoenicoparrus andinus | threatened by habitat loss and egg collecting |
| James’s or puna flamingo | Phoenicoparrus jamesi | lives in South America |
| American or Caribbean flamingo | Phoenicopterus ruber | lives around the Caribbean and northern South America |
The American flamingo is the one you are most likely to have seen in pictures of tropical beaches. It is also called the Caribbean flamingo.
How big are flamingos?
The largest species stands 3.9 to 4.7 feet (120 to 145 cm) tall. The smallest is 2.6 to 2.9 feet (80 to 90 cm) tall.
For their height, flamingos are surprisingly light. The smallest species weighs just 3.3 to 4.4 pounds (1.5 to 2 kg), and the largest weighs 4.6 to 9 pounds (2.1 to 4.1 kg). That is about the weight of a pet cat.
Most of a flamingo’s height is leg and neck. Its body is quite small, and its bones, like those of most birds, are light enough for flying.
Why are flamingos pink?
Flamingos are pink because of what they eat. Many plants make natural red, yellow or orange colours called carotenoids.
Flamingos eat algae, and small animals that have eaten algae, such as brine shrimp. The carotenoids in this food pass into the flamingo’s body and show up in its feathers. If a flamingo’s food has fewer of these pigments, its new feathers grow in paler.
You have probably eaten carotenoids yourself. They are what make carrots orange, and the word carotenoid comes from carrot.
Flamingos are not born pink at all. Chicks hatch with white-grey, fluffy down and straight bills. It takes them several years, and several moults, to turn pink. A moult is when a bird sheds its old feathers and grows new ones.
Eating upside down
A flamingo feeds with its head upside down. It lowers its head into the water with its bill pointing back towards its feet.
Then it sweeps its head from side to side. Its tongue works like a pump, pushing water in and out of its bill.
Inside the bill are rows of comb-like plates called lamellae. They act like a sieve. The water flows out, and the food is left behind. Scientists call this filter feeding.
What a flamingo eats depends on its species. Some mostly eat algae. Others eat brine flies, shrimps and molluscs, which are soft-bodied animals such as snails. American flamingos eat algae, small seeds and little water animals, including fly larvae, shrimps and molluscs.
Homes that most animals would avoid
Flamingos live in lagoons and large, shallow lakes. Some of these lakes are very salty. Others are caustic, which means the water is so alkaline that it can burn.
That sounds like a hard place to live, but it suits flamingos. Their long legs let them wade out into the shallows, and their bills let them sieve food from water that would be hard on most animals.
American flamingos live in the shallows of salt water, brackish water or alkaline lakes. Brackish water is a mix of fresh water and salt water, like the water where a river meets the sea.
Why do flamingos stand on one leg?
This is one of the most famous questions about flamingos. Scientists have two good ideas.
Standing on one leg may be less tiring for a flamingo than standing on two. It may also help the bird stay warm, by limiting how much heat escapes through its legs and feet.
A flamingo often stands in water for hours. Tucking one leg up into its feathers means only one leg is losing heat to the water around it.
Knees that bend backwards?
When a flamingo walks, its legs seem to bend backwards at the knee. They don’t.
What looks like a flamingo’s knee is really its ankle. Its real knees are much higher up, hidden by its body and feathers. So when you watch a flamingo walk, you are really watching it bend its ankles.
A flamboyance of flamingos
A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. Other names for a group include a stand, a colony and a pat. The word flamboyant means bright and showy, which suits them well.
In the breeding season, flamingos put on group displays. Thousands of birds may open their wings, or lift and turn their heads, all together in one vast movement, as if they have practised it.
Young flamingos gather in a creche, a big group of youngsters. A flamingo creche can hold up to 300,000 birds.
Mud nests and a single egg
Flamingos build their nests out of mud. Each nest is a mound 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm) high, shaped a little like a small volcano.
On top, the female lays one large, chalky white egg. The pair keep it warm for about 28 days until it hatches. The mound lifts the egg above the mud and water around it.
Flamingo milk
Mammals are not the only animals that feed their babies milk. Flamingo parents make a kind of milk in their crop, a part of the throat. They bring it up through the mouth to feed the chick.
This crop milk is full of healthy proteins and fats. Because it comes from the parents’ own bodies, other adult flamingos can also feed a chick that is not their own, a bit like foster parents.
Can flamingos fly?
Yes, flamingos can fly. When they travel long distances, they often fly at night.
They usually run a few steps across the water to pick up speed before they lift off. In the air, a flamingo stretches its long neck out in front and its long legs out behind.
How long do flamingos live?
Flamingos can live a long time for a bird. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says they live 20 to 30 years in the wild, and up to 50 years in zoos.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo gives American flamingos an even longer lifespan, of about 40 to 60 years. Different experts give different figures, because it is hard to follow a wild bird for its whole life.
A flamingo’s day
Put all of this together and you can picture a flamingo’s day. It wades into a shallow, salty lake with hundreds of others, sweeping its upside-down head through the water to sieve out food.
Between meals it rests, often on one leg with the other tucked up into its feathers. It spends time cleaning its feathers with its bill, a job called preening.
If the lake dries up or the food runs low, the flock may move on, flying off together after dark.
Are flamingos in danger?
Some flamingos are doing well. The American flamingo is listed as Least Concern, although it is still threatened by habitat loss and by people disturbing it.
Others are in more trouble. The Andean flamingo, which lives in South America, is threatened by the loss of its habitat and by people collecting its eggs.
Because flamingos gather in huge numbers at a few special lakes, damage to one lake can harm a great many birds at once.
If you like flamingos, you might also enjoy emperor penguin facts for kids, puffin facts for kids and what owls eat.
Three things people get wrong
Flamingos are not born pink. Chicks are white-grey with straight bills. They take several years to turn pink.
Flamingo knees do not bend backwards. The joint you can see is the ankle. The knee is hidden higher up, under the feathers.
Flamingos are not pink from the inside out. The colour comes from carotenoids in their food, which is why a flamingo with less of that food turns paler.
Did you know? A creche of young flamingos can hold up to 300,000 birds, all gathered together while their parents feed.
Try it
Stand on one leg with the other foot tucked up against your knee, and time how long you can stay balanced. A flamingo can rest like this for a long time.
Knowledge check
What makes flamingos pink?
Show answer
Carotenoids, natural red, yellow and orange colours in the algae and small animals they eat.
Which joint bends backwards when a flamingo walks?
Show answer
Its ankle. The knee is hidden higher up, under the feathers.
Frequently asked questions
Why are flamingos pink?
Flamingos are pink because of carotenoids, natural red, yellow and orange pigments made by plants and algae. Flamingos eat algae and small animals that have eaten algae, and the pigments show up in their feathers.
Why do flamingos stand on one leg?
Scientists think standing on one leg may be less tiring for flamingos. It may also help them stay warm, by limiting how much heat escapes through their legs and feet.
How many species of flamingo are there?
There are six living species of flamingo: the greater, lesser, Chilean, Andean, James’s (or puna) and American (or Caribbean) flamingo. The greater flamingo is the largest and the lesser is the smallest.
What do flamingos eat?
Flamingos eat algae, seeds and small water animals such as brine shrimps, fly larvae and molluscs. They feed with their heads upside down, sieving food from the water with comb-like plates in their bills.
What is a group of flamingos called?
A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. It can also be called a stand, a colony or a pat.
How long do flamingos live?
Flamingos live about 20 to 30 years in the wild and up to 50 years in zoos, according to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The National Zoo gives American flamingos about 40 to 60 years.
Sources
- Smithsonian’s National Zoo: why are flamingos pink? — carotenoids, chick colour, standing on one leg, feeding, ankles, group names, crop milk and flight
- Smithsonian’s National Zoo: American flamingo — range, habitat, diet, nests, incubation, creches, displays, lifespan and status
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: flamingo — the six species, size and weight, habitat, filter feeding, nests, crop milk, lifespan and conservation
