Chilean Flamingo

Habitat

Brackish or saltwater lakes and lagoons.

Wild Diet

Algae, small molluscs, crustaceans and other tiny water creatures.

Behaviour

Flamingos feed by holding their shovel-shaped bill upside down in the water. The food is filtered from the water by a pumping action and then swallowed. Before nesting in huge colonies, large numbers of flamingos display together by 'quick-marching' back and forth in a tightly packed group while waggling their heads from side to side.

Breeding

The nest is a mud pile upon which a single egg is incubated by both sexes for approximately 28 days. The chicks are covered in grey, downy feathers for the first year.

Threats

This species is declining due to egg-harvesting, disturbance by tourism and the degradation of its habitat due to mining.

Conservation

These birds are protected under CITES, Appendix II. Proposed conservation measures include carrying out surveys during breeding season to monitor population and controlling intensive egg-harvesting.

Find out more by downloading our

Chilean flamingo factsheet