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Lesser Flamingo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lesser Flamingo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Phoenicopteriformes
Family:
Phoenicopteridae
Genus:
Phoenicopterus
Species:
P. minor
Binomial name
Phoenicopterus minor
Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire, 1798
The Lesser Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus minor) is a species in the flamingo family of birds
which occurs in Africa (principally in the Great Rift Valley), across to Pakistan
and northwest India. It is the smallest and most numerous flamingo, probably
numbering up to two million individual birds.
In Africa, where they are
most numerous, the Lesser Flamingos breeds principally on the highly caustic Lake
Natron in Northern Tanzania. Like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky white
egg on mounds they build of mud. Most of the plumage is pinkish white.
Chicks join creches soon
after hatching, sometimes numbering over a hundred thousand individuals. The
creches are marshalled by a few adult birds who lead them by foot to fresh
water, a journey that can reach over 20 miles.
The clearest difference
between this species and Greater Flamingo, the only other Old World species, is
the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the
species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.
This species feeds
primarily on Spirulina, a cyanobacteria which grows only in very
alkaline lakes. Although blue-green in colour, the bacteria contains the phtotosynthetic
pigments that gives the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised
for filtering tiny food items.
Lesser Flamingos are
predated on by a variety of species including Marabou Storks, baboons, African
Fish Eagles and jackals.
The population in the two
key east African lakes, Nakuru and Bogoria, have been adversely affected in
recent years by suspected heavy metal poisoning.
The Lesser Flamingo is one
of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
References
- BirdLife International (2006). Phoenicopterus
minor. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006.
Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of
why this species is near threatened
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lesser_Flamingo&action=history
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
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Scientific classification
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Binomial name |
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Phoenicopterus minor |
The Lesser Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus minor) is a species in the flamingo family of birds
which occurs in Africa (principally in the Great Rift Valley), across to Pakistan
and northwest India. It is the smallest and most numerous flamingo, probably
numbering up to two million individual birds.
In Africa, where they are
most numerous, the Lesser Flamingos breeds principally on the highly caustic Lake
Natron in Northern Tanzania. Like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky white
egg on mounds they build of mud. Most of the plumage is pinkish white.
Chicks join creches soon
after hatching, sometimes numbering over a hundred thousand individuals. The
creches are marshalled by a few adult birds who lead them by foot to fresh
water, a journey that can reach over 20 miles.
The clearest difference
between this species and Greater Flamingo, the only other Old World species, is
the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the
species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.
This species feeds
primarily on Spirulina, a cyanobacteria which grows only in very
alkaline lakes. Although blue-green in colour, the bacteria contains the phtotosynthetic
pigments that gives the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised
for filtering tiny food items.
Lesser Flamingos are
predated on by a variety of species including Marabou Storks, baboons, African
Fish Eagles and jackals.
The population in the two
key east African lakes, Nakuru and Bogoria, have been adversely affected in
recent years by suspected heavy metal poisoning.
The Lesser Flamingo is one
of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
References
- BirdLife International (2006). Phoenicopterus
minor. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006.
Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of
why this species is near threatened
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lesser_Flamingo&action=history
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html