• Lesser flamingo
• Flamenco enano, flamenco chico

Scientific classification:
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Phoenicopteriformes
Family:Phoenicopteridae
Genus:Phoeniconaias
Species:P. minor

The lesser flamingo is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants.
This is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall and large bird by most standards. Most of the plumage is pinkish white. The clearest difference between this species and the greater flamingo, the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.

This species may be the most numerous species of flamingo, with a population that (at its peak) probably numbered up to two million individual birds. This species feeds primarily on Spirulina, algae which grow only in very alkaline lakes. Presence of flamingo groups near water bodies is indication of sodic alkaline water which is not suitable for irrigation use. Although blue-green in colour, the algae contain the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised for filtering tiny food items.

Oasis Wildlife Fuerteventura, La Lajita, Fuerteventura, Islas Canarias

Photo Taken: April 16, 2023
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