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The Dainty Flamingo?
© Arie Ouwerkerk
The Greater Flamingo, an American icon, is as comfortable next to a patio as it is in a tropical lagoon. It is found throughout the Caribbean, in the Galapagos, and from southern Europe across Africa to India. Despite its pencil-thin neck and legs, the flamingo miraculously maintains grace and beauty. But don't let its dainty looks fool you. Flamingos nesting in the Rift Valley of Africa construct concave columns of mud that rise from lake water so alkaline that it would burn our skin. Learn more about the Greater Flamingo from the Patuxent Migratory Bird Research center. See below.
BirdNote®
The Dainty Flamingo?
Written by Adam Sedgley
This is BirdNote!
[Greater Flamingos in flight]
Do you know what bird makes this call?
If you were thinking a goose, think again.
This bird, an American icon for decades, is as comfortable next to a white-gravel driveway as it is in a tropical lagoon. It is the Greater Flamingo, a bird found throughout the Caribbean, in the Galapagos, and from southern Europe across Africa to India. [Continue Greater Flamingoes in flight]
Despite its pencil-thin neck and legs, the flamingo miraculously maintains grace and beauty. [Greater Flamingo colony] But don’t let their dainty looks fool you. Flamingos thrive in some of the most hostile environments in the world. To protect their egg from the sometimes-150-degree heat in the Rift Valley of Africa, flamingo pairs construct concave columns of mud that rise from lake water so alkaline that it would burn our skin. [Continue Greater Flamingo colony]
In fact, among the few creatures that can live in this water are the crustaceans that give flamingos the beta-carotenes they need to stay pink.
Wild flamingos are seen in Florida when they drift in from their native Bahamas. But their pink plastic counterparts are becoming increasingly rare, as they were retired from production in 2006.
[Calls of the Greater Flamingo]
Today’s BirdNote was written by Adam Sedgley. I’m Frank Corrado.
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Call of the Greater Flamingo recorded and provided by Martyn Stewart, naturesound.org
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2007 Tune In to Nature.org
ID# 041107GREFKPLU
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