Greater Flamingo
They are the most widespread and the largest species of the flamingo family. They average about 110–150cm tall and weighing around 2–4kg. The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up to 187cm tall and 4.5kg. Most of the plumage is pinkish-white and the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. Chicks are gray. Subadult flamingos are paler with dark legs. Adults feeding chicks also become paler, but retain the bright pink legs. The coloration comes from the carotenoid pigments in the organisms that they eat. Secretions of the uropygial gland also contain carotenoids. During the breeding season, greater flamingos increase the frequency of their spreading uropygial secretions over their feathers and thereby enhance their color.
Habitat
The species inhabits shallow(1m deep over a large area) eutrophic waterbodies such as saline lagoons, saltpans and large saline or alkaline lakes up to pH 11. It will also frequent sewage treatment pans, inland dams, estuaries and coastal waters, seldom alighting on freshwater but commonly bathing and drinking from freshwater inlets entering alkaline or saline lakes. It nests and roosts on sandbanks, mudflats, islands or boggy, open shores.
Diet
Its diet consists of crustaceans (especially brine shrimp Artemia salina), molluscs, annelid worms, larval aquatic insects, small fish, adult terrestrial insects (e.g. water beetles, ants), the seeds or stolons of marsh grasses, algae, diatoms and decaying leaves. It may also ingest mud in order to extract organic matter (e.g. bacteria).
Breeding
Flamingos breed during April and May while gathered in groups on the extensive, warm, watery mudflats. Flamingos are are monogamous, meaning pairs stay together for life. At the beginning of the nesting season, flamingos perform spectacular group courtship displays of synchronized dancing, preening, neck stretching and honking. Like all species of flamingo, the female Greater Flamingo lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound in shallow water. The mating pair take turns to incubate the single egg. The egg hatches after 27 – 31 days and the parents help the chick out of the egg by pulling pieces of the shell away.
Population
The overall population is estimated at 550,000-680,000 individuals. The European population is estimated at 45,000-62,400 pairs, which equates to 89,900-125,000 mature individuals. The overall population trend is increasing, although some populations may be stable. The European population is estimated to be increasing . The species was last assessed on the 7th August 2018 and the population is increasing.
Threats
The species suffers from low reproductive success if exposed to disturbance at breeding colonies(e.g. from tourists, low-flying aircraft and especially all-terrain vehicles, or if water-levels surrounding nest-sites lower (resulting in increased access to and therefore predation from ground predators such as foxes and feral dogs). The lowering of water levels in lakes can also lead to hyper-salinity which may affect food resources. Other threats to the species's habitat include effluents from soda-ash mining, pollution from sewage and heavy metal effluents from industries. The species also suffers mortality from lead poisoning(lead shot ingestion), collisions with fences and powerlines, and from diseases such as tuberculosis, septicemia and avian botulism . In Egypt large numbers of adults are shot or captured to be sold in markets , and egg collecting from colonies occurs in some areas (this may become a threat).
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
The following information refers to the species's European range only: The removal of sand polluted with lead shot from a salt-lake in Cyprus was successful in significantly reducing the numbers of deaths due to lead poisoning. At two colonies(one in France and one in Spain) management techniques to counteract erosion and the lack of suitable nesting islands were successfully applied in order to encourage breeding by the species. The species is also kept and does well in captivity. The Flamingo Specialist Group was established in 1978 to actively promote flamingo research, conservation and education worldwide.
Conservation Actions Proposed
The following information refers to the species's European range only: The conservation of all wetlands used by this species for feeding and breeding is important and breeding sites should be monitored to ensure the continuation of appropriate habitat management techniques. Measures suggested and implemented at the Ebre Delta in Spain include regular surveys and monitoring, raising public awareness, mitigation of damage to rice fields, control of salt pan levels and wardening against disturbance.