Phoeniconaias minor
The Lesser Flamingo, *Phoeniconaias minor*, is the smallest and most numerous of the world's flamingo species, renowned for its dazzling pink plumage. Standing typically 80-90 cm (31-35 inches) tall with a wingspan of 90-100 cm (35-39 inches) and weighing 1.2-2.7 kg (2.6-6 lbs), it features a striking deep carmine-pink coloration that can appear almost purplish on its wings and shoulders, contrasting with its paler body. A key identification mark is its unique deep carmine-red bill with a dis...
Found primarily in hypersaline or alkaline lakes, coastal lagoons, and shallow wetlands, the Lesser Flamingo thrives in low-elevation, extreme aquatic environments.
The Lesser Flamingo's diet consists almost exclusively of microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae, particularly *Arthrospira/Spirulina*) and diatoms, which they filter from the water using their specialized bill.
Lesser Flamingos are highly social and gregarious birds, active primarily during the day for feeding and preening, often roosting communally in vast numbers. Their unique foraging strategy involves wading into shallow water, holding their specialized bill upside down and submerged, filtering micr...
The Lesser Flamingo has a disjunct distribution across Africa and South Asia. In Africa, its primary strongholds are the alkaline lakes of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, notably Lake Natron, Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru, and Lake Manyara, where it forms massive breeding and feeding aggregatio...
Near Threatened
- The Lesser Flamingo is the most numerous flamingo species, with populations sometimes exceeding three million individuals. - It possesses a highly specialized bill, uniquely adapted to filter out tiny cyanobacteria and diatoms, smaller than what other flamingos typically consume. - This species...