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Flamingo

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                                 iFlamingos
   A Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), with Chilean Flamingos (P.
   chilensis) in the background
   A Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), with Chilean Flamingos (P.
   chilensis) in the background
                          Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Phoenicopteriformes
            Fürbringer, 1888
   Family:  Phoenicopteridae
            Bonaparte, 1831
   Genus:   Phoenicopterus
            Linnaeus, 1758

   Flamingos are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus and
   family Phoenicopteridae. They are found in both the Western and Eastern
   Hemispheres, but are more numerous in the latter. There are four
   species in the Americas while two exist in the Old World. A group of
   flamingos is called a "pat".

Systematics

Species

   Species Geographic location
   Greater Flamingo (P. roseus) Old World parts of Africa and S+SW Asia, S
   Europe, (most widespread)
   Lesser Flamingo (P. minor) Africa (eg Great Rift Valley) to NW India
   (most numerous)
   Chilean Flamingo (P. chilensis) New World temperate S America
   James's Flamingo (P. jamesi) S America
   Andean Flamingo (P. andinus) S America (exclusively Chilean Andes)
   Caribbean Flamingo (P. ruber) Caribbean, Galapagos islands

Evolution

   Lesser Flamingos in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
   Enlarge
   Lesser Flamingos in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

   The prehistory of the Phoenicopteriformes is far better researched than
   their systematic affinities (see below). An extinct family of peculiar
   "swimming flamingos", the Palaelodidae, was initially believed to be
   the ancestors of the Phoenicopteridae. This is nowadays rejected, as
   the fossil genus Elornis, apparently a true albeit primitive flamingo,
   is known from the Late Eocene, before any palaelodid flamingos have
   been recorded. A considerable number of little-known birds from the
   Late Cretaceous onwards are sometimes considered to be flamingo
   ancestors. These include the genera Torotix, Parascaniornis,
   Scaniornis, Gallornis, Agnopterus, Juncitarsus and Kashinia; the latter
   two are probably proto-flamingos, while the relationships of the others
   are not clear at present.

   There exists a fairly comprehensive fossil record of the genus
   Phoenicopterus. The systematics of prehistoric Phoenicopteriformes
   known only from fossils is as follows:
     * Placement unresolved
          + Phoeniconotius (Etadunna Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of Lake
            Pitikanta, Australia)

     * Palaelodidae
          + Adelalopus (Borgloon Early Oligocene of Hoogbutsel, Belgium)
          + Palaelodus (Middle Oligocene -? Middle Pleistocene)
          + Megapaloelodus (Late Oligocene - Early Pliocene)

     * Phoenicopteridae
          + Elornis (Late Eocene - Early Oligocene)
          + Prehistoric species of
               o Phoenicopterus croizeti (Middle Oligocene - Middle
                 Miocene of C Europe)
               o Phoenicopterus floridanus (Early Pliocene of Florida)
               o Phoenicopterus stocki (Middle Pliocene of Rincón, Mexico)
               o Phoenicopterus copei (Late Pleistocene of W North America
                 and C Mexico)
               o Phoenicopterus minutus (Late Pleistocene of California,
                 USA)
               o Phoenicopterus aethiopicus

Relationships

   The identity of the closest relatives of the flamingos is a rather
   contentious issue. Traditionally, the long-legged Ciconiiformes,
   probably a paraphyletic assemblage, have been considered the flamingos'
   closest relatives and the family was included in the order. Usually the
   spoonbills and ibises of the Threskiornithidae were considered their
   closest relatives within this order. Nevertheless, relationships to the
   Anseriformes (waterfowl) were considered as well (Sibley et al., 1969),
   especially as flamingos and waterfowl are parasitized by
   closely-related feather lice.

   To reflect the uncertainty about this matter, flamingos began to be
   placed in their own order later on. Other scientists proposed flamingos
   as waders most closely related to the stilts and avocets,
   Recurvirostridae.

   In recent years, molecular studies have yielded unexpected results:
   Sibley & Monroe placed flamingos within the expanded (and certainly
   paraphyletic, as is now known) Ciconiiformes. On the other hand, since
   long it has been the grebes ( Podicipedidae), rather than
   Ciconiiformes, ducks, or stilts, that were time and again indicated as
   the closest relatives of flamingos, and there is currently renewed
   interest in this hypothesis.

   In a 2004 study comparing DNA sequences of intron 7 of the β-
   fibrinogen gene (FGB-int7), the Neognathae (all living birds except the
   ratites and tinamous) excluding waterfowl and Galliformes were shown to
   be divided into two subgroups of uneven size. The first and smaller
   one, Metaves, contains flamingos and grebes, alongside the hoatzin,
   pigeons, sandgrouse, the Caprimulgiformes, the Apodiformes,
   tropicbirds, mesites, sunbittern and kagu. Interestingly, most of these
   groups have traditionally been difficult to place on the family tree of
   birds. According to this study, all other birds belong to the second
   subgroup of Neoaves, the Coronaves (Fain & Houde, 2004). But their
   molecular data was insufficient to resolve inter-Metaves relationships
   to satisfaction; the flamingo FGB-int7 sequence is apparently most
   similar to that of some species of nighthawks, strongly suggesting a
   case of convergent evolution on the molecular level. The conclusions
   that one can draw from this study are twofold: first, that flamingos
   are Metaves, and second, that FBG-int7 is unsuitable to determine their
   relationships beyond that. It is interesting to note, however, that
   among all the groups which have been proposed as sister taxa of the
   flamingos, only the grebes are Metaves.

   In conclusion, the relationships of the flamingos still cannot be
   resolved with any certainty, but presently a close relationship with
   grebes appears somewhat likelier than other proposals. Still, all this
   confusion serves to show that all lines of "evidence" - molecular,
   morphological, ecological and parasitological - are liable to yield
   erroneous "proof" and that no method can be considered generally
   superior. Any future attempt to finally resolve the flamingos'
   relationships, therefore, would have to employ multiple independent
   lines of evidence to support it and carefully weigh these against
   alternative proposals.

Physiology

   Lesser Flamingos in flight
   Enlarge
   Lesser Flamingos in flight

Diet

   Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly-shaped beaks
   are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they
   consume, and are uniquely used upside-down. The filtering of food items
   is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the
   mandibles, and the large rough-surfaced tongue. It is the shellfish and
   shrimps which flamingos eat which give them their distinctive pink
   colour, otherwise they would be white.

Legs

   Flamingos frequently stand on one leg. The reason for this behaviour is
   not fully known. One common theory is that tucking one leg beneath the
   body may conserve body heat, but this has not been proven. In addition
   to standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the
   mud to stir up food from the bottom.

Colour

   Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but the feathers of an adult
   range from light pink to bright red, due to carotenoids obtained from
   their food supply. A flamingo that is well fed and healthy is vibrantly
   coloured bright pink or red. The pinker a flamingo is, the more
   desirable it is as a mate. A white or pale flamingo, however, is
   usually unhealthy or suffering from a lack of food. Notable exceptions
   are the flamingos in captivity, many of which turned a pale pink as
   they are not fed foods containing sufficient amounts of carotene. This
   is changing as more zoos begin to add shrimp and other supplements to
   the diets of their flamingos. All flamingos have 12 black flight
   feathers in each wing.

Feeding

   Flamingos produce a “milk” like pigeon milk due to the action of a
   hormone called prolactin (see Columbidae). It contains more fat and
   less protein than the latter does, and it is produced in glands lining
   the whole of the upper digestive tract, not just the crop. Both parents
   nurse their chick, and young flamingos feed on this milk, which also
   contains red and white blood cells, for about two months until their
   bills are developed enough to filter feed.

Conservation status

   Flamingos in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
   Enlarge
   Flamingos in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo

   Scientists have discovered that birds are dying in their thousands
   along the Rift Valley lakes of Kenya and Tanzania. However, they are
   baffled about the reason. Possible causes include avian cholera,
   botulism, metal pollution, pesticides or poisonous bacteria, say
   researchers. Also, fears for the future of the Lesser Flamingo —
   Phoeniconaias minor — have also been raised by plans to pipe water from
   one of their key breeding areas, the shores of Lake Natron. The lakes
   are crucial to the birds' breeding success because the flamingos feed
   off the blooms of cyanobacteria that thrive there.

   Most scientific attention has focused on the environmental changes to
   the lakes. Water levels have lowered and concentrations of soda in the
   water have increased. This increases the risk of toxic bacteria growing
   there.
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