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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo
Flamingo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flamingo Fossil range: Eocene - Recent

Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus and family Phoenicopteridae. They are found in both the Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere, but are more numerous in the former. There are four species in the Americas while two exist in the Old World.
Two species, the Andean and the James's Flamingo, are often placed in the genus Phoenicoparrus instead of Phoenicopterus.
Stout-legged Flamingo (Borgloon Early Oligocene of Hoogbutsel, Belgium)
Giant Flamingo (Late Oligocene - Early Pliocene)

In a 2004 study comparing DNA sequences of intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene (FGB-int7), the Neognathae (all living birds except the ratites and tinamous) excluding waterfowl and Galliformes were shown to be divided into two subgroups of uneven size. The first and smaller one, Metaves, contains flamingos and grebes, alongside the hoatzin, pigeons, sandgrouse, the Caprimulgiformes, the Apodiformes, tropicbirds, mesites, sunbittern and kagu. Interestingly, most of these groups have traditionally been difficult to place on the family tree of birds. According to this study, all other birds belong to the second subgroup of Neoaves, the Coronaves (Fain & Houde 2004).

But their molecular data was insufficient to resolve inter-Metaves relationships to satisfaction; the flamingo FGB-int7 sequence is apparently most similar to that of some species of nighthawks, strongly suggesting a case of convergent evolution on the molecular level. The conclusions that one can draw from this study are twofold: first, that flamingos are Metaves (if that group is not based on molecular convergence, for which there are some indications), and second, that FBG-int7 is unsuitable to determine their relationships beyond that. It is interesting to note, however, that among all the groups which have been proposed as sister taxa of the flamingos, only the grebes are Metaves.

The relationships of the flamingos still cannot be resolved with any certainty, but presently a close relationship with grebes appears somewhat more likely than other proposals. For this clade, the taxon Mirandornithes ("miraculous birds" due to their extreme divergence and apomorphies) has been proposed.In summary, all this confusion serves to show that all lines of "evidence" - molecular, morphological, ecological and parasitological - are liable to yield erroneous "proof" and that no method can be considered generally superior. Any future attempt to finally resolve the flamingos' relationships, therefore, would have to employ total evidence to support it and carefully weigh the data against alternative proposals.

The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the mandibles, and the large rough-surfaced tongue. The flamingo's characteristic pink colouring is caused by the Beta carotene in their diet.The source of this varies by species, but shrimp and blue-green algae are common sources; zoo-fed flamingos may be given food with the additive canthaxanthin, which is often also given to farmed salmon. Flamingos produce a "milk" like pigeon milk due to the action of a hormone called prolactin (see Columbidae).

Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly coloured and thus a more desirable mate.A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished.Captive flamingos are a notable exception; many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. This is changing as more zoos begin to add prawns and other supplements to the diets of their flamingos.

Possible causes include avian cholera, botulism, metal pollution, pesticides or poisonous bacteria, say researchers. Also, fears for the future of the Lesser Flamingo — Phoeniconaias minor — have also been raised by plans to pipe water from one of their key breeding areas, the shores of Lake Natron.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-flamingo.html
San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Flamingo

Class: Aves (Birds) Order: Phoenicopteriformes Family: Phoenicopteridae Genus and species: .Phoenicopterus ruber (greater flamingo and Caribbean flamingo subspecies)

The flamingo’s pink color, which is very important for stimulating reproduction, comes from the food they eat, including algae, diatoms, and small aquatic insects and crustaceans. .In East Africa, more than one million lesser flamingos may gather together—forming the largest flocks known among birds today. .Standing on one leg really is their most comfortable resting position. . The Andean flamingo is the only flamingo species with yellow legs. .The San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park are among only a handful of zoos in the world to raise offspring from four of the six flamingo species. Together, we have hatched nearly 300 chicks.

The flamingo’s pink color, which is very important for stimulating reproduction, comes from the food they eat, including algae, diatoms, and small aquatic insects and crustaceans. .In East Africa, more than one million lesser flamingos may gather together—forming the largest flocks known among birds today. Standing on one leg really is their most comfortable resting position. . The Andean flamingo is the only flamingo species with yellow legs. The San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park are among only a handful of zoos in the world to raise offspring from four of the six flamingo species.Together, we have hatched nearly 300 chicks.

Long legs let flamingos wade into deeper water than most other birds to look for food.And speaking of food, the flamingo also has very distinctive eating habits.The bill is held upside down in the water. The flamingo feeds by sucking water and mud in at the front of its bill and then pumping it out again at the sides.Here, briny plates called lamellae act like tiny filters, trapping shrimp and other small water creatures for the flamingo to eat.The smaller puna Phoenicopparrus jamesi, Andean Phoenicopparrus andinus, and lesser flamingos Phoeniconaias minor have deeper bills and stiff lamellae. This helps them filter very fine particles, such as algae, through their bill and keep bigger particles out.

Flamingos are social birds that like to live in groups of varying sizes, from a few pair to sometimes thousands or tens of thousands.


http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/flamingo.html
The Wild Ones: Flamingo

Nearly everyone knows what flamingos look like ---pink birds with long legs.You can see them at just about every zoo. You can find them in storybooks.

Ornithologists (scientists who sturdy birds) spent many years arguing whether flamingos are more like ducks, or more like storks, until they decided that flamingos belong in a group by themselves.

There are 5 species of flamingos that occur throughout the world. The greater flamingo is as tall as a grown-up person is. The lesser flamingo is as tall as a first-grader.

Caribbean flamingo (also known as American, Cuban, rosy, or West Indian)

Greater flamingo (also known as European)

Lesser flamingo (also known as African)

Caribbean flamingos have the brightest coloration: crimson or vermilion. The Chilean flamingo is pale pink.

A flamingo's pink or reddish feather color comes from its diet, which is high in alpha and beta-carotene. People eat beta-carotene when they eat carrots.

The typical flamingo diet consists of diatoms, seeds, blue-green alage, crustaceans, and mollusks they filter out of the water. Using their long legs and partially webbed feet, flamingos will stamp on the muddy bottom of lagoons to mix the food particles with the water. Different species of flamingo have slightly different shaped bills; the different shapes helping it obtain slightly different types of food.

Flamingos use their large beaks to filter small food items from the water. A flamingo lowers its head into the water, upside-down. It moves its head from side to side, collecting the food/water mixture. The spiny, piston-like tongue acts to pump the water mixture past the tooth like ridges on the outside of the beak and the lamellae, or finger-like projections, inside the beak.

When they are ready to lay their breed, birds will form pairs.Within the whole colony, groups of birds will be engaged in courtship displays -, a predictable sequence of displays including marching and head turning, calling and preening.Several hundred to several thousand flamingos are all doing the same behaviors at the same time. This helps to synchronize breeding within the colony, so that most of the birds are laying eggs or raising young at the same time.

Every flamingo does not nest every year.When they do nest, they typically lay one large, white egg. The nest is built of mud, small stones, and feathers on the ground and is in the shape of a volcano.

http://www.beyond.fr/birds/flamingo.html
Flamingo Birds - by Provence Beyond

Photo gallery of 5 photos for Flamingo

The flamingo appears all-over pale pink while standing. It's a lot more colorful when it take off, though; the wings are black along the outer and trailing edges, and dark pink forward.

The thick, curved beak is practical, designed to sieve animal and vegetable food from shallow water. In flight, the neck and feet stretch far out before and behind the slender body and flapping wings, and the curved beak help distinugish the flamingo from storks or geese. The flamingo's loud honking in flight is very similar to the sound of a goose.

This pink flamingo likes any shallow-water lakes, ponds or protected inlets of the Mediterranean, and can often be found along the coast of Spain and southwestern France. It can be most readily seen in the Camargue (map), the only place in France where it nests.