What do flamingos eat in nature. Flamingo (bird): a brief description, features and interesting facts. Flamingos are all about a beautiful bird

“Even in his most beautiful dreams, man cannot imagine anything more beautiful than nature.”

  (Alphonse de Lamartine)

“Beauty has the power and gift to bring peace to the hearts.”

  (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)

“There was something dramatic in the night: the moon came up from behind the torn clouds, then hid behind them again, the shadows from the clouds laid on the white slopes, and the slopes came to life - it seemed that giant flamingos with powerful wings fly above the ground.”

  (Erich Maria Remarque)

Flamingos, which were the sacred birds of the ancient Egyptians, are one of the most amazing and peculiar birds in the world.

A distinctive feature of flamingos is their very long strong legs and a flexible neck, which they need for movement and feeding in shallow waters. On a small head is a huge beak curved downward, filtering food from the water. Despite the fact that their body at first glance seems disproportionate, flamingos have become a symbol of grace and sophisticated beauty, largely due to their amazing color, which varies from white and pink to bright red and raspberry shades.

Although these birds most resemble cranes, herons and storks, they are not related to any of the listed species of birds, and geese are their closest relatives.

Flamingos come from a very ancient genus of birds and their ancestors, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo, lived on our planet 30 million years ago. Their homeland is North and South America, Africa and Asia, but fossils prove that they used to be found in much larger territories, including North America, Europe and Australia.

In the genus of flamingos, there are six modern species of birds.

The largest are pink, or ordinary, flamingosliving in Africa (lakes of Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Northern Mauritania and the Cape Verde Islands), in Europe (in the south of France, Spain and Sardinia) and South-West Asia. Their growth can reach 1.3 - 1.5 meters, and weight 3.5 - 4.0 kilograms.

The smallest small flamingos, reach only 0.8 - 0.9 meters and weigh no more than 1.5 - 2.0 kilograms. They are found in Africa and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Caribbean flamingos, which fascinate with its bright pink, almost red feathers, can be found in the Caribbean, in northern South America, on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and the Galapagos Islands.

Andean flamingos and James flamingos   settle in South America (Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina), and red and chilean flamingos   - in Central America and Florida.

Flamingos settle in large colonies along the shores of shallow reservoirs or lagoons. Colonies of these beautiful birds sometimes number hundreds of thousands of individuals. Flamingos are mostly sedentary, and only northern populations of pink flamingos are migratory. There are cases when pink flamingos flew even to Estonia during flights.

In the fall, during the period of migration, flamingos fly very heavily and reluctantly into the air, gathering in huge flocks and heading to the warm regions of Africa and South Asia. To take off, flamingos scatter for a long time, and even taking off the ground, for some time they continue to run through the air. Then in flight they stretch their long necks and legs in a straight line.

Flamingos prefer to settle on the shores of reservoirs with a high concentration of salt, in which many crustaceans are found, but there are no fish at all. These unique birds manage to adapt to extreme environmental conditions in which only a few other species of animals and birds survive.

It is interesting that these birds also manage to tolerate low and high temperatures well and often settle on the shores of mountain lakes, for example in the Andes.

Since flamingos live in an aggressive salty or alkaline environment, their legs are covered with strong skin. However, due to the presence of a large amount of bird droppings, a huge number of pathogenic microorganisms develop in the water surrounding them, and even minor scratches on their skin can lead to serious inflammation.

Flamingos spend most of their time in the water, where they sleep, rest or feed. Long strong legs help them walk along the bottom in search of food at a relatively large depth, which gives flamingos an advantage over other birds.

Flamingos rest, standing on one leg and maintaining perfect balance without any muscular effort, thanks to the unique adaptation of their paws. In addition, they alternately warm their long bare legs in warm fluffy plumage to reduce heat loss in windy weather and standing in cold water.

Their beautiful plumage of flamingos is lubricated with special fat from the coccygeal gland, as a result of which it becomes waterproof and repels water when flamingos swim, skillfully fingering in the water with their webbed feet.

Flamingos feed mainly on small red crustaceans, which contain a carotenoid that gives pink and red color to their plumage. The color intensity of flamingos depends on the amount of carotenoid pigment eaten (giving the oranges their bright orange color), which turns into red pigments during digestion.

They also eat clams and blue-green algae, worms and insect larvae.

To ensure that flamingos contained in captivity do not lose the brightness of their plumage and do not gradually become white, they are fed in zoos not only with seafood, but with carrots and red bell peppers.

The beak of a flamingo, large and as if broken in the middle, is similar to a goose, but unlike all other birds, in a flamingo, the moving part of the beak is the upper, not the lower. While searching for food, the flamingo lowers its head under the water and turns it so that the upper beak is below. In addition, studies have shown that flamingos have a special float that supports the bird's head (inverted) on the surface of the water during feeding.

The bird shifts from foot to foot and drives water with possible food through its beak. Water is filtered through special lamellar filter plates (similar to a whalebone) and squeezed out with a rough fleshy tongue, and all edible living creatures remain in their beaks and are swallowed. This whole process is very fast, and the flamingo tongue works like a piston in an internal combustion cylinder.

At one time, not a very large amount of food remains in the beak, but per day (and flamingos are fed at any time of the day and under any weather conditions), the bird can eat the amount of food that reaches a quarter of its weight. According to observations by ornithologists, multi-million-dollar flamingo colonies in India select about 145 tons of feed per day from silt, which is about 21 750 tons of small animals in five months.

In case of lack of food in the places of their permanent residence, flamingos can fly after it within 30-50 kilometers to other bodies of water.

From time to time, flamingos fly to freshwater springs and ponds to get drunk and wash off salt, but they are also able to drink brackish water (in permanent habitats) or collect rainwater from their plumage during heavy tropical showers.

Being social birds, flamingos are kept in different size groups all the time. They always gather in flocks, flying from place to place, and prefer to stay in a group while on the ground.

The largest flocks of flamingos on the planet form in East Africa, forming colonies of more than a million individuals.

The flamingo colony is usually led by an elderly and experienced male, who, in case of danger, emits deaf cries that serve as a warning to all birds in the flock.

The beginning of the mating season in flamingos depends on the abundance of food, so it is not known in advance whether known breeding sites will be occupied by the flock.

In the mating season, males perform in front of the females with a special ceremonial dance, synchronously repeating certain movements.

The video below shows these famous synchronized flamingo dances that the best of the dancers could envy.

Flamingos form pairs for the duration of the breeding season, but next year they pick other partners for themselves.

The female and the male together build a conical-shaped nest with truncated apex from silt, mud and a shell rock, where they make a depression-tray in the form of a bowl. Unlike nests of other birds, flamingo nests are bare and do not have feathers or warming vegetation. The height of the nest reaches 60-70 centimeters, which protects the masonry during the rise of water.

Sometimes, in the absence of the required building material, flamingos lay eggs directly on the sand. These birds settle very closely, the distance between adjacent nests does not exceed 50-80 cm.

In the colony, many thousands of flamingo females simultaneously lay from one to three olive-green eggs each day. Future parents alternately hatch chicks for a month. After hatching the babies, the mother and father feed and guard them together.

Flamingo chicks are born sighted and active, covered in gray down and with a direct pink beak. Their beak bends only after two weeks.

Parents diligently feed hungry babies with “bird milk”, a special red nutritional mixture consisting of half-digested crustaceans and algae and the parent’s blood, which is secreted from the special glands of the lower esophagus and pancreas.

On days 5-12, the chicks already leave the nest and join the huge "kindergarten", numbering hundreds of chicks. However, parents accurately recognize their babies in the group and feed them only for 2 months until they grow a beak and can filter the water and get their own food.

The nestlings in the group are guarded by a caretaker, while the parents fly away to feed several tens of kilometers from the nesting grounds. In the evening, with the onset of twilight, the guard brings the babies to their nests, urging the laggards.

At the age of two and a half months, young flamingos reach the size of adult birds and become winged. Young birds acquire their bright color after two years.

Flamingos in nature have only a few natural enemies - foxes, wolves, jackals and large feathered predators - eagles and falcons, settling near the colonies.

In nature, flamingos live on average 20-30 years, and live in captivity and live up to 40 years.

Flamingos were revered in ancient Egypt as sacred birds. In ancient Rome, flamingo languages \u200b\u200bwere considered a valuable delicacy. South American Indians destroyed flamingos for their fat, because they believed that it was able to cure tuberculosis.

Currently, the number of these most beautiful and graceful birds is declining due to the drying up of reservoirs associated with climate warming and thoughtless vigorous activity of a person destroying their nesting sites. Many birds die out due to an increase in the concentration of harmful substances in natural water bodies. In addition, poaching leads to a reduction in the number of flamingos.

Flamingos are listed in the Red Books of many countries, including the Red Book of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Hopefully, humanity will be able to prevent the disappearance of these unique beauty birds, as seven valuable species of flamingos have already disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Note. This article uses photographs from open sources on the Internet, all rights belong to their authors, if you believe that the publication of any photograph violates your rights, please contact me using the form in the section, the photograph will be deleted immediately.

Flamingo - a scarlet bird of sunset, a symbol of grace and beauty

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Ecology

Primary:

Flamingo is a large bird with beautiful pink or red feathers, also known for its long legs and slightly curved long beak.

The largest flamingo among - Pink flamingo   - reaches 1.2-1.5 meters in height and weighs a maximum of 3.5 kilograms. The smallest flamingos - Small flamingo   - only a little over 0.8 meters long, its weight averages 2.5 kilograms.

Pink flamingos have the paler feathers when Caribbean flamingos   famous for their bright pink, almost red feathers.

Flamingos come from an ancient genus of birds, their ancestors, similar to modern species, lived on the planet already 30 million years ago, according to Smithsonian National Zoo.

The distinctive pink color of flamingos depends on the food they eat. They feed on algae and shrimp that contain pigments. carotenoids   (it is these pigments that give an orange its orange color), which during digestion turn into red pigments.

During a meal, flamingos lower their heads under water, draw in water with their beaks, sifting nutritious foods that they eat, and water exits through the beak. Tiny, hair-like filters help filter out food and release water. One study showed that a special float that supports the bird’s head allows it to feed by turning the head upside down and holding it on the surface of the water.

The long legs of the flamingos help them walk along the bottom even at a relatively great depth in search of food, which gives them some advantages over other birds.

Flamingos are social birds that live in groups of different sizes. They gather in packs when they fly from place to place, and also prefer to stay in groups when they are on the ground. Flamingos also have loud and piercing screams.

These birds know how to fly, but to take off from the earth, they need a small run. During the flight, they extend their long necks and legs in a straight line.

Flamingos are created by couples during the mating season, but other partners are found next season. Female and male build a nest together. The female lays only one egg during the season, which is protected by both parents. After the chick hatched, both parents are also responsible for him and feed him.

The nest is usually built of mud and has a height of about 0.3 meters. The height allows you to protect it from floods and very hot ground. After hatching, the chick has gray feathers, a pink beak and legs. They do not acquire a characteristic pink color of feathers up to 2 years.

After hatching, flamingo chicks remain in the nest for 5-12 days, they are fed with a fatty substance with nutrients, which is produced in the upper parts of the digestive tract of parents. When the nestling grows up, it begins to feed on its own along with the main group of birds in the so-called "manger".

Flamingos have only a few natural enemies. In the wild, they live to the age of 20-30 years, live in captivity for more than 30 years.

Habitats:


The birthplace of flamingos is North and South America, Africa and Asia. Fossils show that they used to be common in much larger areas, including North America, Europe, and Australia.

Pink flamingos   live in Africa, southern Europe and southwest Asia. Small flamingos   found in Africa and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Chilean flamingos   found in southwestern South America. Caribbean flamingos   can be found in the Caribbean, in the north of South America, on the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan and the Galapagos Islands. Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina live Andean flamingo   and james flamingo.

These birds prefer to live near salty small lakes, in coastal lagoons, on the shallows and next to the estuaries.

Guard Status:

Least Concerned:   Pink Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo

Being in a state close to threatened:   Chilean Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, James Flamingo

Vulnerable:   Andean flamingo

The Andean flamingo population is declining dramatically due to habitat loss and environmental quality.


In East Africa, flamingos are grouped into giant flocks - more than a million individuals, forming the largest flocks of birds on the planet.

Of all the flamingos, only the Andean flamingos have yellow legs.

The ancient Romans highly appreciated the language of flamingos as a delicacy. Flamingo eggs also feed in different parts of the world.

It is still not clear why flamingos stand on one leg. According to one version, they pull one leg out of cold water, which helps them save heat. During rest, they often bend one leg, which for them seems very comfortable.

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


Flamingo plumage is very beautiful with a gentle pink tint. But this bird has pink feathers not 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.

Getting food, flamingos walk in shallow water. At the same time, it strongly bends the neck so that the beak is immersed in water. This bird arranges its high nests in water, in shallow places. In them, the bird lays eggs - usually one to three. Adult birds and chicks easily tolerate temperature extremes.

Flamingos very often take “ballet” poses. They can wonderfully bend their neck or even tie it in a knot. While resting, a flamingo hides its head on its back or under the feathers on its shoulder, while pressing one leg to its body. In this position, this bird is sleeping. When danger occurs, flamingos instantly take off. And the predator just does not have time to grab it.

Flamingo sleeping

Learning that flamingo is a bird, many are surprised. This word is very beautiful. But when you see this bird with your own eyes, you stop doubting that this name suits her. The word flamingo means red feather. And it is right. After all, representatives of this family have red or bright pink color feathers with a black border around the edges, which is visible only at the time of flight.

What does it look like?

Flamingo is a bird, a brief description of which you will find in this article. Seeing her once, you can not confuse her with any other. These birds have legs. Moreover, the neck often gets tired, and they put their head on the body to give rest to the numb muscles. The large beak consists of keratinized particles. It is bent so that it is convenient for them to catch food from the water. A feature of the structure of the oral apparatus of flamingos is that the upper jaw is mobile, and not the lower one. Flamingo is a bird that reaches a height of 90 to 135 cm and has a wingspan of 140-165 centimeters. Males are larger than females. Unforgettable impression leaves coloring feathers. Especially beautiful is pink flamingo. A bird to which songs and poems are even dedicated. The color of her feathers depends on the food she eats. The pink color is provided by carotenoids contained in small crustaceans. The more a bird eats them, the brighter its color will be.

How to eat?

The structure of flamingos is specially adapted for the lifestyle that the bird leads. with membranes they rake the bottom of the shallow water from which it feeds. A hard beak filters the water, for this there are bone protrusions on its edges. Flamingo is a bird that eats very small food, and in order not to swallow a large amount of water, it is filtering, as a result of which the water collected in the beak is poured out and the food remains. To get food, she completely lowers her head into the water. Interestingly, the flamingo language was eaten in ancient Rome. The dish from it was considered a delicacy. But this muscular organ helps birds pump water into their mouths. What do flamingos eat? The answer is simple - everything that gets into their beak. After all, they do not have the opportunity to spit out what they do not like. Therefore, in their stomachs they find silt, small fish, small crustaceans, and mollusks. Flamingo is a bird that lives in a team. But during the meal she will violently defend her territory.

Secret revealed

Representatives of the flamingo family have other behavioral features. For example, they like to stand on one leg. Moreover, it is noted that they do this mainly in water. Scientists estimate that the period of standing on one leg can be about one hour. Surely, you wondered why this position attracts waterfowl. The thing is that in this way birds improve their thermoregulation. In simple terms, they press their paw to keep warm. It’s not so easy to stand in cold water for a long time. They fly, with their legs stretched out over their entire length, and in flight they make sounds similar to a goose gaggle. Flamingo is a beautiful bird. A flock of these creatures, consisting of thousands of individuals, looks wonderful. But flamingos come together not to show off.

Time to breed

In a large colony it is easier to warn each other about the appearance of a predator and find a life partner. Interestingly, in a large flock, birds breed better. Flamingos attract a female through ritual movement. If the female became interested, she begins to repeat the movements for the male. Flamingos can be considered a model of fidelity. After all, these birds often create one pair for life and raise chicks together. During mating, adults gather near a source of fresh water. They begin their ritual movements, trying to show the size and beauty of the plumage. Flamingos spread and stretch their wings and try to touch with their beaks and wing tips other closely standing birds. Scientists have noticed that both males and females do this. Moreover, the observer from the side will not be able to determine the gender of the birds. After all, they have the same color. Females repeat movements for males. If the couple liked each other, then the female begins to move away from the team, continuing to make movements that lure the male. The male will begin to sway and follow his lady of the heart to continue the race.

My house

Flamingos can breed at any time of the year. Although they prefer to do it in early summer. During this period, the water is warmer, and there are more opportunities to create a nest and get food. These birds build a nest from clay. It is a hill with a depression in the middle into which the female will lay an egg. In order to make a litter, flamingos use branches, feathers and leaves. The female lays one egg of milky white color. Both partners engage in incubation. When one of them sits on a nest, the other earns food for himself. Chicks are born in 28-32 days. And although furry babies are born with their eyes open, they cannot feed themselves and are not able to fly. In the nest, the chicks are 5-8 days. Toddlers come in contact with “children” from other nests. Parents distinguish their offspring by the sounds they make. This is provided by an interesting natural mechanism. The fact is that little birds begin to make sounds, while still in the egg. Parents get used to them and recognize the kids when they are born.

This is not a myth.

But the chicks recognize their parents by the voice that they hear at a distance of 100 meters. They come up to them, catching a special call. It is not customary for flamingos to feed alien chicks. If parents do not do this, then the baby will die of hunger. It turns out that bird milk is not fiction. It is with this drink that flamingos of their chicks are fed. Moreover, it is very similar in composition to the human, and is produced thanks to the hormone prolactin. Only the chicks, of course, do not eat like the young mammals. Bird's milk is secreted from a special nutritious secret found in the beak of an adult bird. It is noteworthy that it is not white, but red. Together with him, the first pigments get into the body of the chick, which color its feathers in pink.

Must be saved

Yes, flamingo is a bird. The Red Book about which, unfortunately, already has an entry on its pages. Nowadays, there is a struggle to preserve them. From whom should these creatures be protected? In their natural habitat, they have enemies - predators that not only prey on adults, but also destroy their eggs. And this is not only foxes, badgers, hyenas, baboons, wild boars, but also Turkish vultures, and yellow gulls. Also the enemy of flamingos is man. He eats the eggs and meat of these beautiful birds. And also uses feathers that have an unusual color.

Kinds

Flamingo is a bird, a brief description of which you found in this article. I would like to mention that in their genus there are six species that have slight differences from each other. Andean flamingo has a height of 120 centimeters and a white-pink plumage with black fly wings. He has yellow paws. Red flamingos have red plumage, although it can be bright pink. Pink flamingo is the largest among its counterparts. His height can be 135 centimeters. Feathers are pale pink. The wings are red with black wing feathers. Small flamingo has a small growth, only about 90 centimeters. Feathers are light or dark pink. The shape of the beak has slight differences. James's flamingos are almost the same size and color, but he has a bright yellow beak with a black tip.

Here it is, a flamingo bird. Description for children can be somewhat simplified. But they must learn about one of the most on our planet, and why it has such a coloring.

(Phoenicopterus roseus). Squad and family of flamingos. Habitats - Asia, Africa, Europe. Wingspan 2.4 m. Weight 5.6 kg

Pink flamingos are otherwise called ordinary, although these birds are completely unique. They are found not only in Africa, but also in Iran and Azerbaijan. They can be seen in the south of Spain and France. Eating, flamingos are filtered by blue-green algae - up to 100 g per day. In fact, these are bacteria capable of photosynthesis. Artemia crustaceans, developing in the water of brackish lakes, are also excellent fodder. Viscous shores for birds are not a problem. On stilt legs and in the swamp you can walk. Parents feed the hatched chick with a nutritious mixture. It contains proteins, vitamins and blood cells. How they get from the circulatory system of parents into this “baby food mix” is a mystery.

Flamingos live in huge colonies. Mainly, a sedentary lifestyle, only the northern populations of pink flamingos are migratory. They mainly settle along the shores of sea lagoons, large lakes with brackish water and in shallow water, where they can find food - a variety of small crustaceans, worms, mollusks and algae. The pink or red color of the plumage of the flamingo is given by the coloring substances lipochromes, which enter the body of the bird with food. It is interesting that in zoos these birds lose their unique color of plumage after a couple of years, since the food that they are fed with does not contain the substances that flamingos can find in the wild. They get their flamingo food in such a way that it lowers its head under water and digs its beak in the bottom silt. In this case, the bird turns its head so that the back of the head touches the bottom, and the upper beak is below.

Flamingos have high nests; they look like pedestals, built from improvised material - pebbles, shell rock, macerated stems. Sludge is used as a binder. In clutch from 1 to 3 (usually 1) large white eggs.

 

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