are tall wading birds with pink plumage,
long necks and legs and a distinctive down curved bill. They
belong to the Phoenicopteridae
in their own order of Phoenicopteriformes with 5 species
worldwide (Greater, Lesser, Andean, Chilean and James's), occurring in the Americas, Africa and southern Europe
and Asia. In older
classifications they are put in the order of Ciconiiformes
with the storks and herons, which are seen as their closest
relations but some suggest closer relationships with ducks and
geese or even stilts and avocets. Ecuador boasts of two species, the
Greater Flamingo, commonly seen and breeding in the Galapagos islands and the
Chilean Flamingo, seen more rarely in the lagoons of the southwestern
regions.
Flamingos are very unique in
many aspects and their classification is debated and
closest relations are disputed among geese, herons or stilts as
they possess similarities with all three groups. The beautiful
pinkish color is obtained as adults with young birds (see
photo to left) still mostly missing it. The color is then
maintained by their diet of shrimps and captive birds lose often
their color with an improper diet. Also once the feathers are
plucked the pink fades as well which was a blessing in disguise
when many other wild birds were killed for their plumes.
Flamingos
are waders and are found in groups in saline lakes and
coastal lagoons of the warmer subtropical and tropical regions of the
world with the Andean species (Andean, Chilean and James's) ranging
up high in the Andes. Flamingos withstand high temperatures and very alkaline waters,
where other waders and shorebirds cannot feed anymore so carving out
a niche for themselves. They possess webbed feet to be able
to walk on the mud without sinking in and their legs are scaly to
withstand the high salinity of the
water.
Flamingos can be most
often observed wading in small lagoons with shallow and
saline waters. There they feed mostly on
algae,
shrimps and other aquactic invertebrates. Dangling down
their head, the downcurved bill is then parallel with the
bottom and swinging their heads side to side they suck in
water and filter it through their specialized bill.
The tiny prey is thus traped inside the mouth and is so
swallowed. Feeding like that they
keep their neck and head for quite a while underneath the water while
continue
walking ahead.
Flamingos breed in large colonies and perform group
displays before that. The Greater Flamingos buildnest mounds out of mud, up to half a meter high with a small
depression on top, where one egg (sometimes two) are laid.
Both parents incubate for close to a month and then the semi-precocial
chick hatches. It leaves already the nest after several days and
joins other chicks in a so called crιche,
which are watched over by adults. In the
beginning chicks are fed a milky secretion by both parents
(similar to pigeons) and start to feed by themselves after around one
month.
A
striking feature of them are their red webbed feet and the
red knees (both photos taken at La Paz Zoo, Bolivia).
The Chilean
Flamingo is widespread in
thesouthern Andean countries. They
(as well as the smaller Andean and
James's or PunaFlamingos)
nest and feed
mostly in the shallow salares
(salt lagoons) of the
high
altiplanos (right up to 5000m) of the Andean mountain range.
But they also can be found in the lower coastal regions
and its most northern range is the southwestern part of Ecuador,
where they only occur in smallernumbers. The best chance to see them
there is at the Ecuasal lagoon on Santa Elena Peninsula
near Salinas.
It is somewhat smaller than the Greater Flamingo, not as
pink with reddish color on the wings and black color on the wing primaries and
secondaries,
which can be bestappreciated in flight.
New molecular evidence shows that modern birds
are more closely related to Tyrannosaurus rex than are
present day crocodiles or other reptiles. Protein taken from
dinosaurs fossil show the close relationship. So dinosaurs did
not all go extinct 65 million years ago but live on in the
mighty sparrow.
Ecuadorian Species
Name
Scientific
Location
Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
Galapagos & Pacific Coast
Chilean Flamingo
Phoenicopterus chilensis
Southwest Pacific Coast
Avian
Vocabulary
Waders: are birds with long necks and legs found in the
wetlands and at the coast, e.g. herons, flamingos, ibises,
spoonbills
Shorebirds:
are also wading birds found at the beaches and lagoons but
smaller without long necks and legs, e.g. sandpipers, plovers,
sanderlings
