Lesser Flamingo

About the Lesser Flamingo

The lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from farther north, but these are generally considered vagrants. The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall and large bird by most standards. The species can weigh from 1.2 to 2.7 kg (2.6 to 6.0 lb). The standing height is around 80 to 90 cm (31 to 35 in). The total length (from beak to tail) and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from 90 to 105 cm (35 to 41 in).

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 to distinguish the two species, unless they occur together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.

The extinct species Phoeniconaias proeses in the same genus, from the Pliocene of Australia, is thought to have been even smaller. The lesser flamingo may be the most common species of flamingo, with a population that (at its peak) probably numbered up to two million... Wikipedia →