The American flamingo is a tall wading bird known for its dazzling hot pink color.
Also called the Caribbean flamingo, this species of flamingo lives in the Caribbean, parts of South America, the Galápagos Islands, Mexico, and Florida.
The American flamingo is one of six species of flamingo. It’s the only species that lives in North America. Other species of flamingos live in South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The American flamingo has the brightest pink feathers of the six species. It stands at 120-145 cm (47-57 in.) tall and weighs 1.8-3.6 kg (4-8 lb.).
Why Do Flamingos Stand on One Leg?
One interesting fact about flamingos is that they often stand on one leg. In fact, they can even sleep while standing on one leg! This is because on one leg, their weight is perfectly balanced, and their joints lock in place.
Since they don’t need to use their muscles to keep their balance when they are standing on one leg, flamingos are able to completely relax. When they sleep, they tuck their head under their wings on their backs.
Do Flamingo Knees Bend Backwards?
When you look at a flamingo’s legs, you might think their knees are bending backwards. But the joint you see midway up a flamingo’s leg is actually their ankle!
Their knee, which bends the same way our knees bend, is inside their body, hidden by their feathers and flesh.
Can Flamingos Swim?
Although flamingos prefer to wade in shallow lakes and lagoons, they are good swimmers and can swim in deeper water.
Can Flamingos Fly?
Flamingos are excellent fliers. They fly with their necks stretched out straight and their legs trailing behind. They generally fly about 60 km/h (35 mph).
Some American flamingos travel long distances to find food or better breeding grounds as needed, and some stay put.
A Flamboyance of Flamingos
Flamingos are very social birds. A group of flamingos is called a colony or a flamboyance. There can be thousands of flamingos in a colony.
American flamingos rely on large groups to protect them from predators like hawks and eagles, who eat flamingo eggs and chicks.
What American Flamingos Eat
Flamingos eat algae, brine shrimp, mollusks, and insect larvae.
If freshwater is not available, flamingos have the special ability to drink salt water if necessary. They have glands in their heads that filter out salt through their nostrils.
Filter Feeders
Flamingos are filter feeders. That means they strain food from the water. They sweep their heads back and forth in or at the surface of the water. Then they slurp up muddy water with their specialized curved beaks.
Their beaks have comb-like structures in them called lamellae, which trap food and strain the water out.
How Flamingos Get Their Pink Color
The algae and shrimp that flamingos eat give them their bright pink color. The algae and shrimp contain red and orange pigments (natural coloring substances) called carotenoids.
When the flamingos eat the algae and shrimp, these carotenoids are absorbed into the flamingos’ feathers, legs, and beaks. If flamingos do not have access to carotenoid-rich algae and shrimp, their feathers turn pale pink or white.
Flamingo Reproduction
Flamingos perform a special dance in order to attract a mate. Both the male and female flamingos do the dance as a group, which includes lifting their wings up (wing saluting), waving their heads in the air, honking, and marching.
Once they pair off, both the male and female flamingo make a nest out of mud. These mounds of mud are about 30 cm (12 in.) high, with a pit at the top to hold a single large egg. Once the female lays the egg, both parents take turns keeping it warm.
When flamingo chicks are born, they have downy gray feathers and straight beaks.
Both parents feed the chick a kind of milk they make in their throats called crop milk. Flamingo crop milk is a bright red color because it contains orange and red carotenoids.
And because most of the carotenoids the parents eat are going into the crop milk, the parents’ feathers often become pale by the end of the breeding season.
At four weeks, flamingo chicks’ beaks start developing a curve, and they can start to feed on their own.
At around 2-3 years, their adult feathers start to come in and will turn pink, as long as they are eating a carotenoid-rich diet of algae and shrimp.
In the wild, American flamingos live about 30 years.
Conservation Status
Although they had once been abundant in Florida, American flamingos had disappeared from the area by the early 1900s due to habitat loss, egg harvesting, and hunting.
Since then, whenever sightings of American flamingos were reported in Florida, it was believed that those flamingos were zoo escapees, and not evidence of native flocks. However, after collecting more data in recent years, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission now considers American flamingos native to the area.
Although the American flamingo population is considered stable and the IUCN Red List lists their status as Least Concern, they still face threats, such as pollution due to agricultural runoff.
Flamingos are reliant on shallow lakes and lagoons for their food source and breeding grounds. If water levels get too high or too low, or if the water becomes polluted, it can be catastrophic for flamingo colonies.
What You Can Do to Help
You can help flamingos by supporting efforts to conserve wetlands. You can also write to your politicians asking them to support protections for migratory birds.
American Flamingo Range
The American flamingo lives in the Caribbean, the northern part of South America, the Galápagos Islands, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, and Florida in the United States.
Flamingo Resources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) American Flamingo page
- Flamingos Are Pretty Funky by Abi Cushman
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s American Flamingo page.
- Klingener, Nancy. NPR. “Florida’s Long-Lost Wild Flamingos Were Hiding in Plain Sight.” March 6, 2018.
Quick Fact Sheet
Common Name(s): American Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo
Scientific Name: Phoenicopterus ruber
Animal Type: bird
Size: 120-145 cm (47-57 in.) tall
Weight: 1.8-3.6 kg (4-8 lb.)
Lifespan: 30 years
Conservation Status: Least Concern
About the Author
Abi Cushman is a contributing editor of Animal Fact Guide and My House Rabbit. She is also an award-winning author and illustrator of funny picture books for kids, including Wombats Are Pretty Weird and Flamingos Are Pretty Funky.
To learn more and to download free activity sheets, visit AbiCushman.com.
