Lesser Flamingo – Pink Wader
Phoenicopterus minor Range, Feeding, Breeding, and Threats
Oct 31, 2007
Lesser Flamingos
The Lesser Flamingo, Phoenicopterus minor may be the iconic pink flamingo; this is the bird often described and photographed gathering in the millions near the shores of African lakes—an endless sea of pink. The colorful spectacle, beautiful in an often harsh landscape, glamorizes a rather odd looking bird: a bulky down- turned beak, disproportionately long legs and neck, and a red eye. Today, the Earth has between 2,200,000 and 3,240,000 of these wetland birds.
Range and Migration of Lesser Flamingos
Although flamingos can travel long distances and large numbers move together from one place to another, they don’t migrate so much as they move in search of food and nesting sites. When food in one location grows short, they go elsewhere. The majority of Lesser Flamingos are in sub-Saharan Africa; however, there are small populations in India, Pakistan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Three quarters of the birds breed at Tanzania’s Lake Natron.
Lake Natron and other lakes in the Great Rift Valley region of Kenya and Tanzania are alkaline lakes, heated by underground volcanic activity. In the lakes, rafts of salt deposits build up and blue-green algae flourish, providing a food supply for flamingos.
Lesser Flamingo Food and Feeding Habits
Lesser Flamingos are pink because of what they eat: blue-green algae in the wetlands where the birds feed produce red pigments that color both the water and feathers. Constantly replenished by a steady diet of algae, flamingo feathers fade once they are removed from the living bird.
Lesser flamingos filter food from the water. Their beaks are designed as sieves, with filtering structures called lamellae: holding the beak upside down in the water the birds filter out larger particles as they suck in mud and water. Small particles are retained when the water is pushed back out again. Large flocks of flamingos feeding around the clock require abundant algae, and this explains why they are attracted to algal blooms in lakes and wetlands.
Lesser Flamingo Nesting and Breeding
Large flocks of Lesser Flamingos nest where there are abundant food and good nesting sites. Using their beaks, they build mounds of mud, raising the nest away from water and heat—as much as 30cm (1ft) off the ground. Sometimes, however, the water level drops quickly and juvenile birds may have to walk for miles to stay near water in shrinking wetlands.
Breeding pairs of Lesser Flamingos typically raise one chick together. At birth, the chick is gray, with pink legs and a straight bill, but it soon develops some pink and brown feathers while both the bill and legs turn black. Upon leaving the nest, the juvenile joins a crèche of thousands of other chicks.
Both parents feed the chick until it fledges at about eleven weeks of age. Like pigeons, flamingos produce milk, which is secreted in the crop. High in protein and fat, this milk nourishes the young bird until its bill develops and it can feed itself.
Threats to Lesser Flamingos
Habitat loss is the major threat to this species, which is already listed as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN Red List. The fact that the majority of the birds breed at a single site in east Africa makes the Lesser Flamingo particularly vulnerable. Plans for a soda ash plant, hydroelectric plant and other development threaten Lake Natron and may ultimately cause the extinction of the species in Africa. Along with habitat destruction and loss of food supplies, these developments bring disturbance, pollution, and predators.
Sources:
Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Perrins, Christopher ed. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003
“Lesser Flamingo - Phoenicopterus minor.” Birdlife International
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