The pink flamingo

in #bird6 years ago (edited)

The pink flamingo

Hi friends, I hope you are well and that your weekend is going well?

I speak to you today about the flamingo, one of my favorite animals, firstly it is pink and I like everything that is girly and secondly, it is a majestic and mysterious bird.

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The origin of flamingos is not certain, scientists have had the greatest difficulty in classifying them. Taking into account the characters of the skeleton, musculature and digestive system, they can be compared with storks and herons, while the conformation of their bill and their voice connects them with ducks and geese.

Scientists eventually grouped them into the phoenix helicopter family.
The pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread flamingo species. Formerly, flamingo was the species Phoenicopterus ruber, whose species here was the subspecies Phoenicopterus ruber roseus.

Since the subspecies became a species in its own right, it has taken the standardized name of flamingo, and the species Phoenicopterus ruber has become the flamingo of Cuba or flamingo of the Caribbean.

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Flamingos are a species that often lives in groups of several hundred to several thousand individuals.
Their plumage is, in spite of their name, largely pinkish-white, unlike the P. ruber species, in which it is much redder.

The beak is unique among birds, it is curved and its morphology allows the filtration of mud and water. It is pink too, with the black tip. The legs, long and thin, are pink in adults. Their color comes from the carotenoid pigments present in the algae and crustaceans they consume.

Females are smaller than males. The cry resembles that of a goose. The pink flamingo sleeps upright on one or two legs, his head hidden under a wing. Because of their size, flamingos must take a few meters of momentum to take off water.

They fly in formation, keeping their necks and legs stretched. When they make long journeys, they can reach 60 km / h with their big flapping wings.

Habitat and food

Sites that provide suitable nesting conditions for this wading bird are very rare. These are large areas with shallow brackish water, islets, nutrient-rich and protected from humans.
The food of flamingos consists mainly of aquatic invertebrates, as well as their larvae and eggs, crustaceans (including the artemisia rich in carotenes, which contribute to the pink coloration of the plumage), molluscs, insects, worms, fish, seaweed.

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Flamingos can also consume seeds of aquatic plants and rice.

The flamingo practices the filtration of water and mud to feed, thanks to a particular beak, equipped with slats functioning in the manner of whalebone.

In shallow depths, the flamingo plunges his head into the water and thus advances by filtering the water column. He can also stay in place and trample the mud with his feet to get out the organisms he feeds, in fact, he tramples the ground gradually turning around his beak immersed.

Because of their large size compared to that of their prey, flamingos spend a considerable amount of time feeding both day and night.

Reproduction

The pink flamingo can live very old, indeed, it easily reaches thirty years in the wild.
They reach sexual maturity around the age of 3 or 4, but many start breeding around the age of ten.

Flamingos breed in large colonies with up to 200,000 monogamous pairs during a breeding season, and individuals change partners from one year to the next.

Both sexes practice courtship displays, consisting of a gestural ritual: group walking, head twists, sudden opening of the wings, feint of grooming, ...

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Once the paired partners, they remain it during all the duration of the reproduction. After mating, both partners start nesting, preferably on an island that protects them from predators with mud, mud, pebbles and twigs.
The female lays a single egg that will be incubated by both parents for 29 days. After hatching, the chick spends its first days in the nest but then, it quickly joins the other chicks who gather to form nurseries.

Adults regularly come to feed their young with a red nutritive secretion. The chicks, which go from white to gray during their growth, will acquire their characteristic pink plumage only after 2 to 4 years. They start flying around 3 months old.

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Predators

Flamingos have to deal with several predators. In the Mediterranean, gulls and in Africa, raptors attack eggs and chicks. The marabout also attacks adults. Flamingos are also attacked by foxes, dogs, jackals and wild boars.

In France, the Flamingo enjoys full protection since 17 April 1981, it is forbidden to destroy, mutilate, capture or remove, intentionally disturb or naturalize, and destroy or remove eggs and nests and destroy, alter or degrade their environment. Whether living or dead, it is also forbidden to transport, peddle, use, hold, sell or buy it.

Unfortunately, men sometimes hunt pink flamingos, indeed, in Madagascar in 2015, a dozen flamingos were killed with hunting rifles in the bay of St. Augustine.

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Fortunately, hunting flamingos is not very common because their meat is not consumed. So, those who hunt them do it for the simple pleasure of killing or to use their feathers.

If you are interested, there is a paradise beach where you can see these beautiful waders, I made an article previously about it:

https://steemit.com/travel/@lndesta120282/flamingo-beach-my-dream

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OMG !!!!!!!! I LOVE IT !!!!! ❤❤❤
Thanks for sharing !!!!😙😙😙

Nice topic. Excellent picture.

I have had the privilege to see flamingos in flocks, beautiful creatures.
And it’s true that the color pink actually comes from what they eat.
They are always enjoyable to sit and watch

Funny pictures! and actually learned something today ;)

So nice i love it its lovely bird

nice post and great blog. Flamingos are very cool animals. Everytime i see them at the zoo i just stand and watch them some of the looks they give are hilarious.

Wow nice post..
I think U love birds..
Good to see this pic..
Keep it up..👍

very good post

is it just me, or do the eyes on the flamingo look like those anime psycho eyes..lol

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