Lesser Flamingo

Phoenicopterus minor

Salt pans. Pink bird with red wing feathers, bill and legs. Birds can be quite white.

Flamingos

Not Endemic

Description

Locally abundant nomadic resident and visitor from other parts of Africa. Distinguished by evenly coloured dark maroon bill, which looks black at a distance. Pinker, more evenly coloured than [Greater Flamingo]. In flight, the wing coverts appear mottled with dark red. Immatureis dull grey brown. Frequents shallow, brackish water and saltpans feeding primarily on algae from the water surface.

Quick Facts

Bird Family

Occur in flocks of many thousands or singly. The two species described below may be found together. They prefer shallow saline pans, dams and estuaries, as well as sheltered coastal bays, but are nomadic and remain in one place only for as long as conditions are suitable. Over most of the region they are infrequently seen. Both species have a honking call which, in flocks, sounds like babbling. Immatures are grey-brown with a bill pattern similar to that of adults. They feed on algae or aquatic invertebrates which are filtered from the water with specialised bills, the feeding birds walking in a characteristic posture with the head held upside down.