The American Flamingo

A group of Flamingos by the entrance of the Zoo in Melbourne FL

Flamingo portrait

American Flamingo

The American Flamingo breeds in the Galapagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and Turks and Caicos. Most sightings in southern Florida are usually considered to be escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucatán Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park, and others may be genuine wanderers from Cuba.

Its preferred habitats are similar to that of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow brackish coastal or inland lakes. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.

The American Flamingo is 120–140 cm in length; males weigh 2.8 kg and females 2.2 kg. Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler Greater Flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. It is the only flamingo which naturally inhabits North America.

The bill is pink and white with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

The American Flamingo is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.



Hi my friends,


I promised you yesterday some bird photos... here they are.... and there will be some more coming :) I hope you like them. I captured them by my recent visit to the Zoo in Melbourne, FL.

Thanks for all the comments yesterday to my new avatar :) don't take it too serious... I've decided not to look in the mirror anymore in the morning...*smile*... to keep my illusion to be still "young and beautiful"...LOL...


Have a wonderful day!
Susanne

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