|
|
You are here: Home > Wildlife > Birds > Lesser flamingo
WILDLIFE: BIRDS: LESSER FLAMINGO
Class: Aves
Order: Phoenicopteriformes
Family: Phoenicopteridae
Genus and species: Phoeniconaias minor
Common name:
Lesser flamingo
Gathers in hundreds of thousands at the Rift soda lakes, where it feeds by filtering water through the bill: with the head turned upside down, takes water and mud which then expels with the tongue through the lamellae, capturing the microscopic food, the blue-green algae Spirulina platensis. Highly gregarious and migratory. Breeds at lakes Magadi and Natron (Tanzania), where it forms large colonies that build mud nests with a central depression. It can be differentiated from the greater flamingo by its smaller size, stronger colouration and deep red bill with the tip black. The greater flamingo is larger in size, duller in colour and has a black-tipped pink bill. Both flamingos form mixed colonies, with the lesser outnumbering the greater.
|
|
|
Wildlife