Chilean flamingo

About This Project

The 6 species of flamingos have distinctive long necks, long, thin legs, and pink plumage, the result of a carotenoid pigment extracted from plankton: this colour varies from one species to another but also depends on the quantity of pigment contained in their food supply!
The Chilean flamingo has a pale plumage, pinkish wings with black tips and grey-yellowish legs with pink joints. Nearly half of its bill is black. It lives in shallow, muddy lakes, in fresh or salt water and up to an altitude of 4500 m or 15 000 ft!

Latin name: Phoenicopterus chilensis
Class: Aves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Phoenicopteridae
Size: 80-100 cm high
Weight: 1.8 – 2.5 kg
Lifespan: 50 years
Incubation: 26 – 31 days
Number of eggs: 1
Habitat: lakes, in fresh or salt water
Diet: omnivorous
Distribution: South America, from Peru to Land of Fire
Conservation status: near threatened

Category
Aves