American flamingo

Phoenicopterus ruber · The American flamingo is a large flamingo native to the West Indies, northern South America (including the Galápagos Islands) and the Yucatán Peninsula.

Also called Caribbean flamingo, Red flamingo.

American flamingo
Photo: Wilfredor, CC0
American flamingo
Photo: JeffreyGammon, CC BY 4.0
American flamingo
Photo: E bailey, CC0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderPhoenicopteriformes
FamilyPhoenicopteridae
GenusPhoenicopterus
SpeciesPhoenicopterus ruber

Where it lives

Salt lagoons of Cuba, the Bahamas, Yucatán, Colombia, Venezuela and Galápagos.

Fun facts

  • American flamingos can live to around 40 years old, which is one of the longest life expectancies of any bird.
  • Stretched out, a flamingo's windpipe would be longer than its whole body, and it has 330 rings of cartilage.
  • A special salt gland in the flamingo's beak helps it get rid of extra salt through the nostrils on its bill.
  • Standing on one leg probably helps flamingos keep warm, because tucking a leg against the body shrinks the area that heat escapes from.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).