Flamingo Pictures
Flying Turtle Zoo
Flamingo
Family Tree
Their family is called Phoenicopteridae.
Size and Life Expectancy
They are about four feet (1.2 meters) tall and have a wingspan of up to five feet (1.4 meters) and weigh between three and nine pounds (1.4 to 4 kg). They live 20 to 30 years and sometimes up to 50 years long.
Range and Habitat
There are six different types of flamingos that range from Africa to Europe to Asia to South America and the Caribbean. They live in shallow lakes, lagoons, swamps, and areas where the ocean mixes with fresh water.
Diet
Flamingos eat algae and insects and shrimp and mollusks (shellfish like clams and snails).
Predators
Other birds will sometimes eat their eggs or chicks. Cheetahs, jackals lions and leopards will hunt the lesser flamingo in Africa.
Extra Fun Facts
The beta-carotene in their diets which comes mostly from algae and shrimps gives their feathers that famous pink color. They eat by dipping their beak upside down into mud and water and then filtering out the mud and water until just the food is left. Flamingos and pigeons feed their young a milk-like substance that is formed in their digestive tract. Flamingos have good hearing but basically no sense of smell and - like other birds - can’t taste things very well. When flying as a flock, flamingos will fly at up to 37 mph (60 km/h) and they’ve been witnessed traveling over 300 miles (500 km) a night. Flamingos may group together by the thousands. In Africa, more than a million lesser flamingos (a species of flamingo – not a “lesser” animal) will group together in one place! This is the biggest flock of birds anywhere.