The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread species of the flamingo found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. 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. 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. They stirs up the mud with its feet, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks. They feeds with its head down and its upper jaw is movable and not rigidly fixed to its skull.
|
