The lesser flamingo is a tall, large-bodied bird with a long neck and small head. Most flamingos, including this species, have pale pink plumage, legs, and bills. This species has a highly specialized diet consisting almost entirely of microscopic blue-green algae and benthic diatoms found only in alkaline lakes, salt pans, saline lagoons, and estuaries. Here is one reaching for water at Sylvan Heights Bird Park and creating reflections in the water.
Lesser Flamingo Reaching for Water
A Lesser Flamingo and a Scarlet Ibis are side by side at the Sylvan Heights Bird Park
Birds of a Different Kind
The Lesser Flamingo, at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, is a tall, large-bodied bird with a long neck and small head. Most flamingos, including this species, have pale pink plumage, legs, and bills. The lesser flamingo is one of the smallest and brightest of the flamingos. The smallest of the Flamingo species is the Lesser Flamingo. This native of India, Southern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa can live for over 50 years in the wild.
Lesser Flamingo
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Spoonbills, specifically the roseate spoonbill, are native to Florida and are common in coastal areas, marshes, and lagoons throughout the state. A roseate spoonbill is not a flamingo. While both are wading birds with bright pink plumage, they are not closely related. Roseate spoonbills are closely associated with ibises, pelicans, herons, and egrets.
Roseate Spoonbill Closeup
A new study reveals that flamingos are not passive filter feeders but active hunters of prey. Instead of chasing their diverse diet, they create disturbances in the water that force the food items to come to them, a much more efficient approach.
Here is one trying to create a disturbance in the water at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, but instead has colorful reflections.
Flamingos feed on everything suitably sized in shallow water, from brine shrimp to insect larvae and insects themselves. Their famous color comes from carotenoids in blue-green algae, which they either eat directly or consume through aquatic algal-feeding animals.
A Pair of American Flamingos
Adult American flamingos are smaller on average than greater flamingos, but are the largest in the Americas. The American flamingo is about 42 inches tall and has a wingspan of about five feet. It has a large hooked bill with a black tip curved down.
Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park in North Carolina.
Justicia carnea, the Brazilian plume flower, Brazilian-plume, flamingo flower, or jacobinia, is a flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. The perennial plant is native to the Atlantic Forest ecoregions of eastern Brazil.
While browsing for sunset scenes, came across this connecting glass window between two identical homes. The setting sun in the background illuminated the window and created interesting reflections and silhouettes of the flamingo and palm tree.
Interesting Silhouette at a Beach Home