Many Canadians like to spend part of their winter in Florida to avoid our seemingly endless winters and while there you may have come across the weird and wonderful flamingo. These tall, thin, brightly-coloured wading birds have become the inspiration for tacky lawn ornaments and tropical shirts but they should also gain our respect for their ability to survive in less than hospitable landscapes.
There are four species of flamingo species scattered across the Americas and Caribbean with two species native to Asia, Africa, and Europe. Although they were once frequent migrants from the Carolinas to Texas to , now they are only occasional visitors to the southern US . Up until the early 1900’s great flocks of flamingos migrated from the Bahamas to what is now Everglades National Park. Many believe that the flamingos that can be seen in Florida near Miami may be escapees from aviaries as opposed to migrating from the Bahamas or Yucatan. Like many other species of birds, their numbers have dropped in the past 100 years.
Recent molecular studies have found a relationship between flamingos and, weirdly enough, grebes. (Yes, grebes, those odd little diving birds that you can often find hanging out with ducks.) They have at least 11 morphological traits in common that are not found in any other birds. There seems to be a bridge species that is no longer around but can be seen in fossils.
Flamingos are extremely social birds that live in colonies that number in the thousands. Living together in such huge numbers serves three purposes including: maximizing food intake, avoiding predators, and using nesting sites more efficiently. They form strong pair bonds but may change partners within larger colonies. Both partners participate in the raising of chicks and same-sex partners have been noted. These birds are so social that if their colonies become too small, they will not breed.
Flamingos are considered non-migratory as long as their resources are plentiful. This being said, they will relocate when water-levels or the climate changes too much. If they choose to migrate, often, they will migrate to a neighbouring colony and normally return to their native colony to breed. .
They are omnivores that eat larva, algae, small insects, invertebrates, crustaceans, and small fish. Their characteristic red-pink colour comes from the algae that they eat. It is high in beta-carotene, an organic chemical that is orange-red in colour. Some of the mollusks and crustaceans that they eat also contain a similar pigment. You can see a lack of colour in their feathers if their diet lacks these pigment-containing food stuffs. Often seen in captive flamingos if their diet is lacking but this is also why the hue of flamingos can vary from one species to the next depending on the available food in the areas where they live. The molted feathers will also lose the hue after falling.
One of the most interesting facts about these amazing creatures is that they prefer highly alkaline or saline lakes or estuary lagoons that lack any vegetation. These lakes may be far in land or near the sea. Flamingos have evolved to live in some of the most extreme environments known to man. They can be found in caustic ‘soda’ lakes in Africa that are so alkaline that the water would burn human skin. These ‘soda’ lakes host huge blooms of microscopic blue-green algae that most animals would find poisonous but not the flamingo. The lesser flamingo that live here can consume enormous amounts of these algae without any ill effects. They have tough skin on their legs which prevents burns and can drink water that is almost at the boiling point. They have glands that can remove the excess salt from the water and excrete it through their nasal cavity. One of the biggest benefits to living in such a hostile environment is there is very little competition for food and they can be seen here in huge numbers.
Unfortunately, some of these extreme lakes that host flamingos are being farmed (mined?) for the salts they contain. If they remove too much and change the alkaline/acid balance too much, this will hurt the great pink bird. It is an extremely fragile ecosystem and any change could be disastrous to them. You have to wonder if researchers could produce a filter for desalination based upon a flamingos filtering system. Study of this animal could give us some insights into surviving in harsh environment and should not be overlooked.
–Janice Willson
Photo source: Betty Wills (Artsme)
