GREATER FLAMINGO

The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread species of the flamingo family.
It is found in Africa, Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and southern Europe.
This is the largest species of flamingo, averaging 110–150 cm (43–59 in) tall and
weighing 2–4 kg (4.4–8.8 lb). The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up
to 187 cm (74 in) tall and 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). It is closely related to the

American flamingo and Chilean flamingo, with which it has sometimes been considered conspecific.
Like all flamingos, this species lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.
Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary
and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip,
and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

Sub-adult flamingos are whitish-grey and only attain the pink coloration several years
into their adult life. The coloration comes from the carotenoid pigments in the organisms
that live in their feeding grounds.

The bird resides in mudflats and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water.
Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out
small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks.

The greater flamingo feeds with its head down and its upper jaw
is movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.[3]
It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia
(Bangladesh and coastal regions of Pakistan and India), the Middle East
(Turkey, Israel, Lebanon) and southern Europe (including Spain, Albania, Greece,
Cyprus, Portugal, Italy and the Camargue region of France).