So, today is the National Pink Flamingo Day, which is about these guys:
Not Real Flamingos
I thought it would be more interesting to do a post about the real thing. After all, flamingos are one of the most identifiable and popular birds around. Their pink coloration, long necks, and how they stand on one leg are practically iconic in the animal kingdom. They’re also filter feeders and eat by straining food from mud, which involves eating with their heads upside down. Really cool.
Also, none of the 6 species are endangered. That means, we can dive right into the pictures (all found with Google Image Search) and videos.
Greater Flamingo
This is the Greater Flamingo, which has the greatest range. It’s also the largest. They’re found in Africa, Southern Europe, and South/Southwest Asia.
Lesser Flamingo
The Lesser Flamingo is found in Sub-Saharan Africa and western India. These are actually the smallest flamingo species.
Chilean Flamingo
Found in South America, the Chilean Flamingo is considered near threatened. This is because they live in salt lagoons and soda lakes, which are at risk of pollution. Some have been introduced to the Netherlands.
James’s Flamingo
The James’s Flamingo has more yellow in its beak than other species. The live in the higher altitude plateaus of the Andes like in Peru and Bolivia. They were thought to be extinct until a colony was found in 1956.
Andean Flamingo
The Andean Flamingo is closely related to the James’s Flamingo. They live in the same region too. You can see in the pictures that they differ in beak color. This one also has a deeper mandible than other species. Mining has made this species vulnerable.
American Flamingo
The American or Caribbean Flamingo is the only one that inhabits North America, but it isn’t exclusive to the continent. It can be found in the Caribbean, Florida, Belize, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezula.
Here’s an informative video to learn more:
Legends of Windemere 
Such interesting creatures. Must be an odd story about how they found the Netherlands.
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From what I read, the flamingo are a mix of species and may have escaped a zoo long ago. They migrate around Germany and the Netherlands. They seem to like a certain spot in the winter because it’s salt water and doesn’t freeze.
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There is a lone one somewhere in America, too. People watch for him and gave him a name.
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Pink Floyd, the lone flamingo of San Diego county. Interesting.
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Appropriate name.
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I never realized there were so many kinds of Flamingos. Thanks for the educaation.
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Same here. Also that they looked just different enough to notice.
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😊
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I had no idea there were different species of flamingoes (my son called them dofingos). We saw thousands of them at Lake Naivasha in Kenya (the poop smell was overwhelming – would be a great source of fertilizer) and also some trained marching flamingoes in Nassau in the Bahamas. They are fairly smart birds!
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They do seem to be pretty smart. Marching flamingoes seem kind of strange. Though, I noticed that they kind of move in that fashion anyway.
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They are fascinating birds. I hadn’t realised how many different kinds there are. I hope those that are nearly endangered get the protection they need.
However, it always concerns me to read of foreign species being introduced. One would have thought humans would have learned by now. Think about rabbits and cacti in Australia, and the American grey squirrel in the UK that has opractically wiped out out native red squirrel (which in my opinion is much prettier).
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I’m still not entirely sure if the flamingoes in the Netherlands are invasive species or just happened to be a colony that migrates there in the winter. It looks like it’s only a guess that they escaped a zoo, but nothing confirmed. I don’t think humans will ever truly learn about the invasive species issue because you’ll always have a handful who want exotic pets. Then there are animals that hitch a ride with humans.
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Like rats, for example!
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Rodents are pretty good at reaching new regions.
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This was a fascinating read. I was aware but had forgotten how flamingoes were filter feeders. The imagery of eating upside down made me giggle. But what’s even more cool about this is just how many breeds there are, like someone else in the comments mentioned. It’s neat they’re as distinct as they are, even among the same species. Considering there are variants of just about everything on the planet, I don’t know why I didn’t even think to consider flamingoes might fall under the category too but thank you for adding to my repertoire of knowledge on such an aptly named day. ^_^
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Glad you enjoyed the post. I only have it locked into my memory because my son watched ‘The Wild Kratts’ religiously when he was younger. The flamingo episode was a daily event for a while. I’m struggling to think of animals that have no variants, especially since I found that even manatees have a few species. Platypus and binturong are the only ones I can think of now.
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Oh. Now that’s a possible rabbit hole to get lost in. I’m wondering what others might exist like that now. I’ll have to let you know if I come up with other single species creatures. ^_^ Thanks for sharing and the response. Much obliged.
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I’ve got a long list of animals that I plan on doing Sunday posts for over time. Some of them might be solitary, but I was going for endangered species mostly.
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Wonderful! I’ll have to keep an eye out for them then. ^_^ If they’re anything like the flamingo post, I don’t doubt I’ll learn something new each time.
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Thanks. I’ve done a few so far. I forgot what prompted me to start them a few months back, but they’ve been fun to write.
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Beautiful birds!
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Definitely. Fun to watch too.
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Yes!
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Loved this post, especially the flying with flamingoes video. 🙂
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Thanks. Knew I had to include a flying one. Mostly because I’ve met people who think they’re flightless birds.
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