The Greater Flamingo
By Sloane Saxon
General Information and Fun Facts
- The Greater Flamingo is native to every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
- An adult Greater Flamingo's average height is 4 feet 9 inches.
- The Greater Flamingo's pink color results from the crustacean diet that has a pigment called carotenoids.
- Commonly mistaken with the Caribbean Flamingo because of their appearance, location and subspecies.
- They are the 2nd most numerous flamingo species.
- It is the only Flamingo found in the Galapagos (4 to 5 hundred are found among the islands).
Biomimicry
In everyday life, water filters are used around the world to clean out the water used by people. Inspired by the Greater Flamingo's beak, new water filters are being tested that use the same method that the Greater Flamingo uses to collect food.
Greater Flamingos eat their food by burying their beaks or heads into mud and collecting water, mud and the food they want to eat in their mouth. Once they filter the mud and water out, they eat their food.
Scientific Name
Where do the Greater Flamingo's Live?
Besides the Galapagos they are found in the following places internationally: Africa, Latin America, North America (Florida), Middle East, and Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Europe.
What is their Habitat?
What are some Adaptations of the Greater Flamingo?
Greater Flamingo Diet
Shrimp is not the only thing the Greater Flamingos eats. They also eat foods such as small fish, plankton, fly larvae, and other small organisms. They are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and plants.
ICUN - Greater Flamingo
Currently, the Greater Flamingos are not majorly endangered. But in some places, they are endangered because their habitat is being destroyed due to human development and because they are being hunted.
Citations
References:
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Quasar, E. (n.d.). The Galapagos Greater Flamingo. Retrieved January 20, 2014,
from http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/islands/greater-flamingo.php
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Greater Flamingo. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.