What flamingos eat in nature. Flamingo (bird): a short description, features and interesting facts. Flamingo is all about a beautiful bird

"Even in his most beautiful dreams, a person cannot imagine anything more beautiful than nature."

(Alphonse de Lamartine)

"Beauty has the power and gift to bring peace to hearts."

(Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)

“There was something dramatic in the night: the moon floated out from behind the torn clouds, then disappeared behind them again, the shadows from the clouds fell on the white slopes, and the slopes came to life - it seemed that giant flamingos were flying with powerful wings over the earth.”

(Erich Maria Remarque)

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

A distinctive feature of flamingos is their very long, strong legs and flexible neck, which they need to move and feed in shallow waters. On the small head there is a huge beak bent downwards, which filters food from the water. Despite the fact that their bodies seem disproportionate at first glance, flamingos have become a symbol of grace and sophisticated beauty, thanks in large part to their amazing color, which ranges from white and pink to bright red and crimson hues.

Although in their appearance these birds most resemble cranes, herons and storks, with none of the listed types birds they are not related, and their closest relatives are geese.

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. They are native to North and South America, Africa and Asia, but fossils prove that they used to be found in much wider areas, including North America, Europe and Australia.

There are six modern bird species in the flamingo genus.

The largest are pink, or common, flamingos inhabiting Africa (lakes of Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Northern Mauritania and Cape Verde), Europe (southern France, Spain and Sardinia) and Southwest Asia. Their height can reach 1.3 - 1.5 meters, and their weight is 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 kilogram. They are found in Africa and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

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

Andean flamingos and James's 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 water bodies or lagoons. Colonies of these beautiful birds sometimes number hundreds of thousands of individuals. Flamingos are mostly sedentary, and only northern populations pink flamingo migratory. There are cases when, during flights, pink flamingos even flew into Estonia.

In autumn, during the period of migration, flamingos very hard and reluctantly fly into the air, gathering in huge flocks and heading to the warm regions of Africa and South Asia. For takeoff, flamingos scatter for a long time, and even having taken off the ground, they continue to run through the air for some time. They then stretch their long necks and legs in a straight line in flight.

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

Interestingly, 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 aggressively salty or alkaline environment, their legs are covered with tough skin. However, due to the presence of a large amount of bird droppings, a huge number of pathogenic microorganisms develop in the surrounding water, 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 relatively great depths, 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 conditions and when standing in cold water.

Flamingos lubricate their beautiful plumage 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 paws.

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 (which gives oranges their bright orange color), which turns into red pigments during digestion.

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

In order for the flamingos kept in captivity not to lose the brightness of their plumage and 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 that of a goose, but unlike all other birds, the mobile part of the beak in flamingos is the upper, not the lower. While searching for food, the flamingo lowers its head under the water and turns it in such a way that the upper beak is at the bottom. In addition, studies have shown that flamingos have a special float that supports the bird's head (upside down) on the surface of the water while feeding.

The bird moves from foot to foot and drives water with possible food through its beak. Water is filtered through special filtering lamellas (similar to a whalebone) and squeezed out with a rough fleshy tongue, and all edible animals remain in the beak and are swallowed. This whole process happens very quickly, and the flamingo's 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 in a day (and flamingos feed at any time of the day and in any weather conditions), the bird can eat an amount of food that reaches a quarter of its weight. According to the observations of ornithologists, multimillion-dollar colonies of flamingos in India per day select about 145 tons of food from silt, which is about 21,750 tons of small animals in five months.

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

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

As social birds, flamingos keep in groups of different sizes 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.

A flamingo colony is usually led by an elderly and experienced male, who in case of danger utters dull 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, therefore it is not known in advance whether the known nesting places will be occupied by the flock.

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

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

Flamingos mate during the breeding season, but they will mate with other mates the following year.

The female and the male together build a conical nest with a truncated top from silt, mud and shell rock, where they make a bowl-shaped depression-tray. Unlike other birds 'nests, flamingos' nests are bare and have no feathers or warming vegetation. The height of the nest reaches 60-70 centimeters, which protects the masonry while the water rises.

Sometimes, in the absence of the right building material flamingos lay their 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 in one day. Parents-to-be hatch chicks alternately for a month. After the babies hatch, mother and father feed and protect them together.

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

Parents diligently feed their hungry babies "bird's milk", a special nutritional mixture of red color, consisting of half-digested crustaceans and algae, and the parent's blood, which is secreted from special glands in the lower esophagus and proventriculus.

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

The chicks in the group are guarded by a nurse-watchman, while the parents fly away to feed several tens of kilometers from the nesting sites. In the evening, with the onset of dusk, the watchman takes the kids to their nests, urging on the laggards.

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

In nature, flamingos 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 in captivity they live up to 40 years.

Flamingos were revered in ancient Egypt as sacred birds. V ancient Rome flamingo tongues were considered a valuable delicacy. The Indians of South America destroyed flamingos for their fat, because they believed that it could cure tuberculosis.

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

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

I would like to hope that humanity will be able to prevent the disappearance of these uniquely beautiful birds, as seven have already disappeared from the face of the Earth. valuable species flamingo.

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

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

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Ecology

Basic:

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

The largest among flamingos - Pink flamingo - reaches 1.2-1.5 meters in height and weighs a maximum of 3.5 kilograms. The smallest flamingos - Lesser flamingo - in length just a little more than 0.8 meters, its weight averages 2.5 kilograms.

Pink Flamingos have the fairest feather color when both Caribbean flamingos are 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 for 30 million years ago, according to Smithsonian National Zoo.

Flamingos' distinctive pink color depends on the food they eat. They feed on algae and shrimp, which contain pigments. carotenoids(these are the pigments that give the orange its orange color), which turn into red pigments during digestion.

During a meal, flamingos lower their heads under the water, draw in water with the help of their beak, sifting through nutritious foods that they eat, and water exits through the beak. Tiny, hair-like filters help filter out food and release water. One study found that a special float that supports a bird's head allows it to feed by flipping its head over and keeping it on the surface of the water.

Flamingos' long legs help them walk along the bottom even at relatively great depths 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 flocks 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 shrill screams.

These birds can fly, but they need a little run to get off the ground. During flight, they stretch their long necks and legs in one straight line.

Flamingos mate during mating season, but find other mates the following season. The female and the male build a nest together. The female lays only one egg per season, which is guarded by both parents. After the chick has hatched, both parents are also responsible for it and feed it.

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

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

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

Habitat:


Flamingos are native to North and South America, Africa and Asia. The fossils show that they were previously distributed over much larger areas, including North America, Europe and Australia.

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

These birds prefer to live near salty shallow lakes, in coastal lagoons, in shallows and near estuaries.

Conservation status:

Least Concern: Pink Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo

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

Vulnerable: Andean flamingo

The population of the Andean flamingos is severely declining due to loss of habitat and environmental quality.


In East Africa, flamingos are grouped in 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 prized the flamingo tongue as a delicacy. Flamingos also feed on eggs in different parts of the world.

It is still not exactly 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 seems very comfortable for them.

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 is bent from the middle at an angle of 90 degrees. She has long, slender, thin legs with short toes that are interconnected by membranes. The growth of this bird reaches 1.3 m.


The plumage of flamingos is very beautiful with a delicate pink tint. But this bird has no natural pink feathers. She gets this color from food - small green algae. At the moment 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 their own food, flamingos walk in shallow water. At the same time, the neck bends strongly so that the beak is submerged in the 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 can easily tolerate temperature extremes.

Flamingos very often take "ballet" poses. They can bend their necks in surprising ways or even tie them in a knot. When resting, a flamingo hides its head on its back or under feathers on its shoulder, while simultaneously pressing one leg to its body. This is the position this bird sleeps in. When a danger arises, a flamingo instantly takes off. And the predator simply does not have time to grab it.

Flamingo sleeping

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

What does it look like?

Flamingo is a bird short description which you will find in this article. Having seen her once, she can no longer be confused with any other. These birds also have legs. Moreover, the neck is often tired, and they put their head on the body to give rest to the stiff muscles. The large beak consists of keratinized particles. It is bent so that it is convenient for them to catch food out of the water. A feature of the structure of the flamingo's oral apparatus is that the upper jaw is mobile, and not the lower one. The 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. The color of the feathers leaves an unforgettable impression. The pink flamingo is especially beautiful. A bird to which songs and poems are even dedicated. The color of her feathers depends on the food she eats. The pink color comes from carotenoids found in small crustaceans. The more a bird eats, the brighter its color will be.

How does it eat?

The structure of the flamingo 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 water, for this there are bony protrusions on its edges. A flamingo is a bird that eats very small food, and in order not to swallow a large amount of water, it strains, as a result of which the water collected in its beak is poured back, and the food remains. To get food, she completely lowers her head into the water. Interestingly, the flamingo tongue was eaten in ancient Rome. A dish made from it was considered a delicacy. But this muscular organ helps the birds to pump water into their mouths. What do flamingos eat? The answer is simple - whatever falls 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, molluscs. Flamingo is a bird that lives in a collective. But while eating, she will fiercely defend her territory.

Secret Revealed

The representatives of the flamingo family have other behavioral features. For example, they like to stand on one leg. Moreover, it was noticed 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 waterfowl are attracted to this pose. The thing is that this is how birds improve their thermoregulation. In simple terms, they curl their paws to keep warm. It's not easy to stand in cold water for long periods of time. They fly, stretching their legs to their full length, and in flight they make sounds similar to a goose cackle. The flamingo is a beautiful bird. The flock of these creatures, consisting of a thousand individuals, looks wonderful. But flamingos don't get together 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 reproduce better. Flamingos attract the female with a ritual movement. If the female is interested, she begins to repeat the movements after the male. Flamingos can be considered a model of loyalty. After all, these birds often create one pair for life and raise chicks together. During the mating season, adults gather near a fresh water source. They begin their ritual movements, trying to show the size and beauty of the plumage. Flamingos spread and extend their wings and try to touch other closely standing birds with their beaks and wingtips. Scientists have noticed that both males and females do this. Moreover, an observer from the side will not be able to determine the sex of the birds. After all, they have the same color. Females repeat movements after 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 this 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 their nest from clay. It is a hill with a depression in the middle, into which the female will lay an egg. Flamingos use twigs, feathers, and leaves to make bedding. The female lays one milk-white egg. Both partners are engaged in incubation. When one of them sits on the nest, the other gets food for himself. Chicks hatch after 28-32 days. And although fluffy babies are born with open eyes, they cannot feed themselves and are unable to fly. Chicks stay in the nest for 5-8 days. Babies are 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 small birds begin to make sounds while still in the egg. Parents get used to them and recognize babies when they are born.

This is not a myth

But chicks also recognize their parents by the voice they hear at a distance of 100 meters. They approach them, having caught a special call. It is not customary for flamingos to feed other people's chicks. If the parents do not do this, then the baby will die of hunger. It turns out that bird's milk is not fiction. It is with this drink that flamingos feed their chicks. Moreover, it is very similar in composition to a human, and is produced thanks to the hormone prolactin. Only chicks, of course, do not eat like mammalian babies. Bird's milk is secreted from a special nutritional secretion that is found in the beak of an adult bird. It is noteworthy that it is not white, but red. Together with it, the first pigments enter the chick's body, which color its feathers pink.

Gotta save

Yes, flamingos are a bird in the Red Book, which, unfortunately, already has an entry on its pages. In our time, 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 hunt adults, but also destroy their eggs. Moreover, these are 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 flesh of these beautiful birds. He also uses feathers that have an unusual color.

Views

Flamingo is a bird, a short description of which you found in this article. I would like to mention that there are six species in their genus that have minor differences from each other. The Andean flamingo is 120 centimeters tall and has a white-pink plumage with black flight wings. He has yellow paws. The red flamingo has red plumage, although it can be bright pink as well. The pink flamingo is the largest of its kind. His height can be 135 centimeters. His feathers are pale pink. The wings are red, with black flight feathers. The Lesser Flamingo has a small stature, only about 90 centimeters. Its feathers are light or dark pink. The shape of the beak is slightly different. The James flamingo is almost the same size and color, but has a bright yellow beak with a black tip.

That's how she is, a flamingo bird. The description for children can be simplified somewhat. But they must definitely learn about one of the most of our planet, and why it has such a color.

(Phoenicopterus roseus). Detachment and family of Flamingos. Habitat - Asia, Africa, Europe. Wingspan 2.4 m.Weight 5.6 kg

Pink flamingos are otherwise called common, although these birds are completely unique. They are found not only in Africa, but also in Iran, Azerbaijan. They can be seen in the south of Spain and France. Eating, flamingos filter out 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 food. Viscous strands are not a problem for birds. You can walk on stilt legs and in the swamp. Parents feed the hatched chick with a nutrient mixture. It contains proteins, vitamins and blood cells. How they get from their parents' circulatory system into this "baby food mixture" is a mystery.

Flamingos live in huge colonies. They are mainly sedentary, only the northern populations of pink flamingos are migratory. They settle mainly on 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, molluscs and algae. The pink or red color of the plumage of flamingos is given by lipochromes, which enter the bird's body along with food. Interestingly, in zoos, these birds lose their unique plumage color after a couple of years, since the food they are fed does not contain those substances that flamingos can find in the wild. Flamingos get their food by dropping their head under the water and digging with their beak in the bottom silt. At the same time, the bird turns its head so that the back of the head touches the bottom, and the upper beak is at the bottom.

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

 

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