Chilean Flamingo

Range:
Parts of Central Peru, both coasts of South America, Argentina, Uraguay, Paraguay, and Southern Brazil.

Habitat:
Large alkaline or saline lakes or estuarine lagoons that usually lack vegetation, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, sandy islands, and inter-tidal zones.

Size:
Height 4-5 ft; Weight 6-7 lbs; Wingspan 55-65 in

Young:
1 egg

Incubation:
28-31 days

Diet (wild):
Aquatic insects, larvae, and microscopic algae.

Diet (zoo):
Pre-maid flamingo diet

Life spans (wild):
20 years

Life spans (captivity):
44 years

Status:
Threatened

Threats:
Humans use eggs as delicacy. Habitat destruction due to mining for minerals. Introduction of fish into lakes.

Anatomy/Physiology:
Pinkish white plumage with black feathers underneath wings. Long pink legs which lock into place allowing for one-legged stance. Beak adapted for pumping and filtering food from water.

Social/Family units:
Very social birds that gather in large breeding colonies. Seldom in groups less than 20 individuals.

Habits:
Spend about 15% to 30% of their time during the day preening, which is more than most other waterfowl. Flamingos lower their necks and tilt their heads slightly upside-down, allowing their bills to hang upside down facing backward in the water when feeding.

Communication:
Nasal honking, grunting or growling. Generally noisy birds, they also communicate through visual displays including the wing salute as well as the head-flag.

Defensive/Aggressive behavior:
They remain in large groups, which increases possibility of predator detection and decreases the chance of an individual being attacked.

Prey items:
Aquatic insects, larvae, algae

Predators:
Marabou Stork, Tawny Eagle, Lappet-faced and White-headed Vultures, pythons, and feral pigs.

Locomotion:
Capable of long distance migration. Have been clocked flying at speeds up to 31-37 mph.

Activity:
Breeding bird feed day or night. Non-breeding birds feed at night and spend day sleeping or engaged in comfort activities. Migration takes place mainly at night.

Any interesting story/fact:
The majority of lakes where flamingos live have extremely high concentrations of salt. Chilean flamingos are scarce or absent in lakes with fish, but are found in large numbers in lakes where there are no fish to compete for food.