Flamingos

Meet the Flitting flamboyance. Watching these elegant species flying past over your head is an exhilarating experience. Flamingos stay in a group as they are social birds. Group of flamingos is also called flamboyance apart from a flock, colony, stand etc. Their curved beaks are specially designed to filter food out of the water. They eat larva, small insects, algae, small fish, shrimps etc. Flamingoes have to hold their breath while feeding. The pink, orange or red colour in flamingos feathers is due to the carotenoid pigments in the food they eat. They communicate among each other and groups using movements or visual displays and calls. Apart from feeding, they spend considerable time on preening. Many of them are migratory birds, Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) & Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) have breeding grounds in Indian Subcontinent. One such breeding ground is near Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. Greater Flamingo is the largest among the flamingo species. Flamingos are the only bird species left in the Phoenicopteriformes Order. They too are threatened by lack of habitat, poaching, and pollution. Protecting wetlands are necessary for their long term sustenance and survival in the era of the anthropocene.