Greater American Flamingo

The American Flamingo, sometimes called the Greater American or Caribbean Flamingo, is the brightest and most saturated pink of all flamingo species, owing to a diet especially rich in carotenoid-producing organisms. Adults show deep pink-to-scarlet plumage, black flight feathers visible in flight, and a bicolored bill that is pale pink at the base and black at the tip. Its long legs and sinuous neck let it wade and feed in shallow saline waters.

Large, noisy flocks gather to feed and breed together, often standing on one leg for extended periods, a posture thought to help conserve body heat.

Key field marks

• Deep pink to scarlet-orange plumage, the most vivid of any flamingo
• Bicolored bill: pink base, black tip, sharply downturned
• Pink legs
• Black flight feathers visible in flight or when wings are spread

Similar species

• Greater Flamingo (Old World) is paler pink with more white in the plumage.
• Chilean Flamingo is paler with gray legs and pink leg joints.
• Lesser Flamingo is much smaller with an almost entirely dark bill.

Habitat

Inhabits shallow, saline or brackish coastal lagoons, salt pans, mudflats, and mangrove-fringed bays.

Range

Found in the Caribbean, coastal Venezuela and Colombia, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and the Galapagos Islands.

Migration

Mostly sedentary, though flocks may shift locally between wetlands in response to water levels and food availability.

Behavior

Forages in large, tightly packed flocks, walking slowly through shallow water while sweeping its inverted bill side to side; often stands on one leg while resting.

Voice

Honking, goose-like calls given in flight and at breeding colonies.

Feeding

Filters algae, small crustaceans (including brine shrimp), and mollusks from mud and water using comb-like lamellae in its bill, holding its head upside down while feeding.

Nesting

Breeds colonially, building mud mound nests on open flats; typically lays a single white egg.