Flamingo Habitat
Flamingo – Phoenicopterus Ruber
Status: Least Concern
Habitat: American flamingos are found in central and northern South America. They also live on several Caribbean islands, as well as the Galapagos. They live in lagoons, estuaries, mud flats and lakes.
Adaptations: Flamingos are filter-feeders, sweeping their curved bills through the water with their heads held upside down. The bill filters the water and mud, and the bird swallows the prey. Their tongue and beak have comb-like filaments that act as filters when feeding.
Diet: Flamingos eat diatoms (minute planktonic unicellular or colonial algae), blue-green algae, mollusks and crustaceans. Flamingos, which are born gray, obtain their famous pink color from the food that they eat.
Fun Fact: Flamingos often mate for life, working together to build tall mud nests in which they lay their single egg. Flamingos nest in enormous colonies; it is believed that they require the presence of large groups of other flamingos to feel comfortable enough to breed.
