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Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus Minor

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Lesser Flamingo

Appearance: - The Lesser Flamingo is the smallest species of Flamingo. It has a pinkish-white plumage, long neck, dark red beak with black tip, deep yellow-orange eyes surrounded by a reddish-brown ring and dark bare skin, black primary and secondary flight feathers, red coverts, and long pink legs and webbed feet. They also have a hind toe known as a hallux. Both sexes are alike but the male is slightly larger.

Size: - Typical Adult is about 101cm (40in).

Food: - Mainly algae, also crustaceans and aquatic insects. Flamingos feed by putting their large beak upside down in the water and use their tongue and beak to suck in and filter food from the mud and water.

Habitat/Range: - Wetlands, shallow saline lakes, and salt pans in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa, southern Africa, and also southern Asia.

Lesser Flamingo Map
Breeding Habitat/Resident,    Migration or Winter Area.



Breeding Season: - October to December.

Eggs: - 1 (chalky-white colour).

Notes: - The Lesser Flamingo is the smallest and most numerous of the six species of Flamingo but is still classified as 'near-threatened' due to the low number of breeding sites, which are threatened by human activities. The Flamingos characteristic pink colouring is caused by the beta carotene in their diet.

Conservation status (IUCN 3.1):
  Near Threatened.  

Classification: - Family: Phoenicopteridae,
Genus: Phoenicopterus.

Lesser Flamingo video:


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Lesser Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus Minor)





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