An interesting story about a pink flamingo. Flamingo: where he lives, what he eats, description

Interesting Flamingo Facts

Flamingo- wading bird with shaded plumage pink and scarlet flowers. There are many interesting facts about the flamingo, including the fact that its eyes are actually larger than its brain.

Word flamingos comes from the spanish word flamengo early form flamenco. These words come from the Latin word flamma, which means "flame". The habitat of these birds are large shallow lakes, lagoons, mangrove swamps, tides and sandy islands above low tide. An adult flamingo is 36 to 50 inches tall, has a wingspan of about 60 centimeters, and weighs an average of 8.75 kg. However, these data are different different types. The flamingo has such a peculiar appearance that in any given area it is likely to be the tallest, pinkest bird. They have sinuous necks, slender legs, and a black-tipped beak that curves towards maturity.

Below are some interesting facts about flamingos:

• Flamingos are found in warm, shallow, watery regions on many continents. Their extensive habitats include estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes in Africa, Asia, North America, Central America, South America and Europe.
• Well-adapted birds live in hot volcanic lakes as well as icy lakes in the Andes mountains.
• Their beautiful color comes from the algae, diatoms and small crustaceans they eat, which are rich in carotene.
• They have an interesting feeding technique: they stir up mud and water with long legs and webbed feet. Then they dip their beak, or even their head, into the water and absorb mud and water. They shake their heads from side to side to shake off excess dirt and water, and they hold onto and eat plankton, fish, and tiny fly larvae. When feeding, flamingos hold their breath.
• Flamingos tend to preen themselves, which takes a significant amount of time each day. They preen themselves by using their beak to distribute fat from the iron at the base of their tail onto their feathers.
• Contrary to their appearance, they are surprisingly good swimmers. Their webbed feet help them swim and stand in soft mud. However, they do not swim if the water is too deep to waddle.
• Flamingos live in groups called flocks or colonies. Large numbers ensure safety from predators, especially when they feed upside down underwater. Also, they don't nest if there are other flamingos around.
• Flamingos have an equal responsibility in raising children. Both the male and the female accumulate mud to build a nest in which the female lays one egg each. After about 30 days of the incubation period, when the parents take turns incubating, a chick with gray or white plumage hatches from the egg.
• Both parents process the food that is given to the baby, and the mother and father secrete milk-like substances, which ensures that their chick is properly nourished. This continues until the chick's beak is fully formed and it can get food.
• A flock of flamingos is a truly magnificent sight. They pick up speed to take off and flap their wings almost continuously while flying. The flock can reach 31 to 37 mph.
• IN Lately Changes in flamingo migration patterns have emerged as a result of environmental change and global warming. These birds move easily over long distances and can travel over 300 miles in one night.

There are many other interesting facts about these magnificent birds. For example, the fact that a flock is sometimes called the brightness of flamingos, and that they sleep on one leg!

One of the most beautiful birds on earth is the flamingo. This bird has a slender body, a very long and curved neck, a large head, and the beak from the middle is bent at an angle of 90 degrees. She has long, slender, thin legs with short toes, which are connected by webs. The growth of this bird reaches up to 1.3 m.

Flamingo plumage is very beautiful with a delicate pink tint. But this bird does not have pink feathers from nature. She gets this color from food - small green algae. At the time of digestion, these algae turn pink. In addition to algae, flamingos feed on small aquatic animals, worms, small fish, shells, and do not disdain the roots of aquatic plants.

Flamingos roam the shallow water to get their food. At the same time, it strongly arches its neck so that the beak is immersed in water. This bird makes its high nests in the water, in shallow places. In them, the bird lays eggs - usually from one to three. Adult birds and chicks easily tolerate temperature changes.

Flamingos very often take "ballet" poses. They can bend their neck in amazing ways or even tie it in a knot. When resting, the flamingo hides its head on its back or under the feathers on its shoulder, at the same time pressing one leg to the body. In this position, this bird sleeps. When danger arises, flamingos instantly take off. And the predator simply does not have time to grab it.

flamingo sleeping

This amazing bird fascinates with its beauty. She sleeps on one leg, eats crayfish, her plumage has a color from pale pink to bright carrot. Flamingos are one of the most amazing birds on the planet.

There are 6 species of flamingos on Earth. Pink flamingo- the largest and most common type. Each individual has a height of about 1.5 meters and weighs up to 4 kilograms. The smallest species of flamingo is the Small Flamingo, less than a meter in height and its weight does not exceed 2.5 kilograms.

Flamingos are very ancient bird species. Interestingly, their remains were found in places that are now not typical for flamingo habitats - some parts of Europe, Australia and North America. Recently, scientists have singled out flamingos from the Stork order into a separate group, and called it Flamingos.

Flamingos have a massive, downward-curved beak, which has a movable lower part, which distinguishes it from other birds. Males tend to be larger than females and have much longer legs. The average age of a flamingo is about 30 years old. In reserves and zoos, these birds live longer than in the wild.

It is curious that the pink flamingo acquires an unusual color due to food. Flamingos feed on crustaceans and algae, and the substance they contain, a carotenoid, colors their feathers ruddy. The appetite of these birds is excellent, flamingos usually eat up to a quarter of their own weight per day. There were cases when, in order to brighten the natural shade of birds, they were fed carrots in zoos.

Flamingo populations can often be found near lakes that have a very salty and alkaline composition. In such reservoirs, the favorite food of flamingos - crustaceans lives. Flamingos are resistant to large temperature changes, they can be found even on high mountain lakes.

Many are interested in why flamingos get the habit of sleeping on one leg? They use this technique to save energy and keep warm. The legs of the flamingo are not covered with feathers, so the plates freeze in the wind, trying in turn to warm one or the other. In fact, their body is designed in such a way that the flamingo easily stands on one leg, keeps it straight, without using muscular strength.

Flamingo families usually have one chick each. They are born gray and stay that way until they are 2 years old. The male and female secrete special glands that feed the chicks in the first months of life.

Flamingos are birds that scientists refer to the flamingo family. These birds have an unusual appearance. Which? Look at this photo beautiful bird and you will understand everything yourself.

In total, there are six species of these birds in the world: Andean flamingo, red flamingo, lesser flamingo, common flamingo, James flamingo, Chilean flamingo.

Appearance of a flamingo bird

Depending on the species, they can reach different heights and weights. The smallest species is small flamingos, living in southern and eastern Africa, they grow up to 80-90 centimeters and weigh about 1.5-2 kilograms.

The largest are pink flamingos that live in Europe and Asia, their height is about 1.3 meters, and their weight is 3.5-4 kilograms.

Females are slightly smaller than males. Flamingos often stand on one leg. The reasons for this behavior are not exactly clear, but according to recent scientific studies, birds reduce heat loss in this way, since they have to spend hours in cold water.

Flamingos have a long neck. The plumage is different - from white to red.

The red and pink hues of the feathers are due to bacteria in the water that contain beta-carotene. The flight wings of these birds are black. Between the toes on the paws there are membranes.

Birds have an unusual massive beak with a curved lower part. With the help of such a beak, the bird filters food from the water. The young are reddish-gray in color.

Where do flamingos live

They live in the western and eastern regions of Africa, in India, regions of Asia Minor and the Caspian Sea. Flamingos are also found in Europe - in the south of Spain, Sardinia and France. If we talk about the American continent, here flamingos have chosen the northeastern part of South America, Central America and Florida.

The behavior of flamingo birds in nature

The habitat of flamingos is the shores of small reservoirs and lagoons. These birds live in large colonies, which can consist of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

Flamingos lead a sedentary lifestyle. These birds prefer reservoirs with a high concentration of salt, in which there are many crustaceans, but there are no fish in them.

In search of their favorite habitat, flamingos can settle on the shores of mountain lakes. It is worth noting that these birds tolerate low and high temperatures. Since birds live in an aggressive environment, their legs are covered with strong skin. From time to time, flamingos fly to fresh water bodies, where they get drunk and wash away salt deposits from the body.

What do flamingos eat

These birds feed on crustaceans, blue-green algae, mollusks, small worms and insect larvae.

Flamingos feed on shallow water. While searching for food, the bird turns its head in such a way that the upper mandible is at the bottom. Water enters the mouth and the bird closes it. The flamingo pushes water out of its mouth with a rough tongue through hairy structures called lamellae.

The food left in the mouth is swallowed by the bird. This process is very fast.

Reproduction and lifespan

Flamingos form pairs for life. Birds build nests from mud, shell rock and silt. The nests are cone-shaped and reach a height of 60-70 centimeters. This height of the nest protects the masonry during the rise of water.

Listen to the voice of the flamingo

In laying, most often, there is 1 egg. The incubation time lasts 1 month. Parents feed their chicks with a special pink liquid produced in the glands of the esophagus. This liquid contains a large amount of proteins and fats, so it is extremely nutritious.

The chicks stay in the nest for 6 days, then gradually begin to leave it. Parents feed babies for about 2 months. The young then form a beak, and the birds can feed themselves by filtering food like adults.

Young animals begin to fly upon reaching 2.5 months. Sexual maturity in flamingos occurs by 3 - 4 years. Flamingos live no more than 40 years.

flamingo and man

Flamingos were revered in ancient Egypt as a sacred animal, and in ancient Rome, the tongues of these birds were considered a delicacy. The Indians of South America destroyed flamingos for their fat, as they believed that the fat helped cure tuberculosis.

Nowadays, the number of these graceful birds is also declining, this situation is associated with the maintenance of an active economic activity. Huge part The pools that were home to flamingos have dried up. Also, the concentration of harmful elements in the water has greatly increased. All this negatively affects the total population.

The zoo first started breeding flamingos in 1958. This happened at the Basel Zoo in Switzerland. Since that time, 389 flamingos have been born in captivity and transferred to other world zoos.

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Flamingo - unusually graceful and beautiful bird. It belongs to the flamingo order. These birds are the only ones in their order who have thin long legs and a graceful flexible neck. The flamingo bird, the photo and description of which we have prepared for you, is an amazing animal on our land.

Appearance of a flamingo

Flamingo feathers are loose and soft, the tail is short. There is no plumage on the head, chin and around the eyes. An adult flamingo grows up to 130 centimeters tall and can weigh about 4.5 kilograms.

Species, habitat and lifestyle

In nature, there are such types of flamingos as:

• flamingo James (settles in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Bolivia);
• common flamingo (lives in the southern regions of Eurasia and Africa);
• red flamingo (lives in South America, in the Galapagos Islands and near the Caribbean);
• Andean flamingo (lives in the same place as James's flamingo);
• small flamingo (lives in Africa, in southern India and eastern Pakistan);
• Chilean flamingo (found in the southwestern part of South America).

These magnificent animals settle only in large colonies; lagoons and shallow reservoirs are their favorite habitats. In general, flamingos are very resistant birds, they can even cope with those natural conditions which are beyond the power of some other species of birds. For example, a colony can live near very salty or high mountain lakes, and, in addition, birds are able to adapt to sudden temperature fluctuations.

The lifestyle is sedentary, with the exception of pink flamingos, which are migratory birds.

What is the basis of flamingo nutrition?

The favorite food of these birds are insect larvae, worms, small crustaceans, algae and mollusks. It is noteworthy that the pink color in flamingos is obtained due to crustaceans, which are eaten and contain carotenoids in their composition.

In general, flamingos get their food in shallow water. Above the bird's beak there is something like a "float". This "adaptation" gives the bird the opportunity for a long time, without special efforts, keep your head in the upper layer of water. The absorption of food occurs as follows: the bird draws a lot of water into its mouth, closes it, and with the help of a special “strainer”, the water is pushed through, and the plankton is swallowed inside.

Flamingos - perhaps the owners of the brightest plumage among all birds

Flamingo breeding

Flamingos are nesting birds. She builds her "dwelling" in a compaction of silt. building material small shells, mud, silt serve. The nests are in the shape of a cone. Flamingos incubate about three eggs. Eggs are large, white in color.

Little chicks hatch already quite developed. And, a few days after birth, they can already independently get out of the parental nest.

The food for babies is bird's milk, which the chicks eat for the first two months after hatching. This mixture is formed in the mother's esophagus and has a pinkish color, because a quarter consists of the parent's blood. How blood gets there is a puzzle for biologists and zoologists. And yet, it is a fact.

How do chicks get enough of one bird's milk? There is nothing surprising in this, because this "mother" food is very nutritious in composition and is similar to the milk that is produced by mammals.

Listen to the voice of the flamingo

After the beak of baby flamingos is finally formed, they begin to get food on their own, from the water. To the size of adults, the chicks grow by two and a half months, at the same time they begin to fly.