The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

occurring in sub-Saharan

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and western

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

Characteristics

The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall and large bird by most standards. The species can weigh from . The standing height is around . The total length (from

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

to tail) and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from . Most of the plumage is pinkish white. The clearest difference between this species and the greater flamingo, the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful to distinguish the two species, unless they occur together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height. The extinct species '' Phoeniconaias proeses'' in the same genus, from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Spirulina'',

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

which grow only in very alkaline lakes. Presence of flamingo groups near water bodies is an indication of sodic alkaline water which is not suitable for irrigation use. Although blue-green in colour, the algae contain the

photosynthetic pigment A photosynthetic pigment (accessory pigment; chloroplast pigment; antenna pigment) is a pigment that is present in chloroplasts or photosynthetic bacteria and captures the light energy necessary for photosynthesis. List of photosynthetic pigmen ...

s that give the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specially adapted for filtering tiny food items. Other forms of algae taken are '' Synechocystis minuscula'', '' Synechococcus pevalekii'', '' Synechococcus elongatus'', '' Monoraphidium minutum'', '' Oscillatoria'' sp. and '' Lyngbya'' sp. This species will also feed, to a lesser extent, on small invertebrates: copepods ('' Paradiaptomus africanus''), diatoms (''

Navicula ''Navicula'' is a genus of boat-shaped diatom (single-celled photosynthetic organisms), comprising over 1,200 species, though many ''Navicula'' species likely do not belong in the genus strictly speaking. ''Navicula'' is Latin for "small ship", ...

'') and rotifers ('' Brachionus''), as well as microscopic

alkaliphilic Alkaliphiles are a class of extremophilic microbes capable of survival in alkaline ( pH roughly 8.5–11) environments, growing optimally around a pH of 10. These bacteria can be further categorized as obligate alkaliphiles (those that require hig ...

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

('' Arthrospira fusiformis'', ''A. maxima'').

Predators

Lesser flamingos are prey to a variety of species, including

marabou stork The marabou stork (''Leptoptilos crumenifer'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is sometim ...

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Icthyophaga vocifer'') or the African sea eagle is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, ...

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

s, foxes,

Great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or simply white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow ...

s, Martial Eagle, and

big cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. All cats descend from the ''Felidae'' family, sharing similar musculature, c ...

Breeding

Phoeniconaias minor MHNT 226 RdN Aftout Es Saheli Mauritanie

In Africa, where they are most common, the lesser flamingos breed principally on the highly caustic

Lake Natron Lake Natron is a salt lake, salt or soda lake, alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania with its far northern end crossing into Kenya. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East A ...

in northern

Ngorongoro District Ngorongoro District (''Wilaya ya Ngorongoro'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts in western Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the north by Kenya, to the east by Monduli District, t ...

in Arusha Region of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. Their other African breeding sites are at Etosha Pan, Makgadikgadi Pan, and

Kamfers Dam Kamfers Dam is a privately owned permanent water body of 400 ha, situated to the immediate north of Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, South Africa. The wetland was originally an ephemeral Salt pan (geology), pan, often dry and dependent on rai ...

. The last confirmed breeding season at Aftout es Saheli in coastal

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

was in 1965. Breeding occurred at Lake Magadi in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in 1962 when Lake Natron was unsuitable due to flooding. In the early 20th century, breeding was also observed at Lake Nakuru. The species also breeds in southwestern and southern Asia. In 1974, they bred at the Rann of Kutch, but since then, only at the Zinzuwadia and Purabcheria salt pans in northwestern India. Some movement of individuals occurs between Africa and India. Like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky-white

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

on a mound they build of mud. Chicks join creches soon after hatching, sometimes numbering over 100,000 individuals. The creches are marshalled by a few adult birds that lead them by foot to fresh water, a journey that can reach over .

Threats

Despite being the most common species of flamingo, it is classified as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

due to its declining population and the low number of breeding sites, some of which are threatened by human activities. The population in the two key East African lakes, Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria, have been adversely affected in recent years by suspected heavy metal

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

ing, while its primary African breeding area in Lake Natron is currently under threat by a proposed soda ash plant by Tata Chemicals. The only breeding site in South Africa, situated at

, is threatened by pollution and encroaching development. East African soda lake productivity declines due to rising water levels are another threat to the lesser flamingo.

References

External links

Flamingo Resource Centre
- a collection of resources and information related to flamingos * ARKive
Images and movies of the lesser flamingo ''(Phoenicopterus minor)''
* Lesser Flamingo
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
* Save the Flamingo
A site dedicated to the conservation of the South African breeding colony
{{Authority control lesser flamingo lesser flamingo Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Birds of South Asia Birds of the Middle East Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Africa Near threatened biota of Asia lesser flamingo Articles containing video clips