A bird with pink plumage and a curved bill that gathers in flocks in shallow wetlands.
Its pink feather color comes from pigments in food such as small shrimp and algae.
Food pigments give flamingos their pink colour. They filter food from water and incubate eggs on mud nests. Tracking of young birds in Italy has shown that some later travel to wetlands in other countries, connecting breeding colonies with distant habitats.
At three Italian breeding colonies, 42 chicks close to fledging received tracking devices in 2015–2017. Two devices stopped immediately; of the remaining 40 birds, 32 migrated and eight did not. The 32 migrants travelled an average of 388 km, ranging from 103 to 813 km, reaching sites in Italy, France, Spain and Tunisia.
Greater Flamingos filter food in shallow saline wetlands and nest in colonies on mud or salt islands. Breeding depends on food, fresh water and protection from predators.
Sua Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia are important breeding sites. Flooding and sustained water levels support breeding, and chicks gather in crèches after leaving nests.
Altered hydrology, pollution, salt extraction and disturbance threaten wetlands. The 2025 regional assessment highlights breeding, feeding and stopover sites as parts of an essential network.
Southern African Regional Red Data Book · Near Threatened (NT) · South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini
Wetland loss and disturbance at nesting sites threaten flamingos. Tourism, industry and mineral extraction can affect breeding and feeding areas.
The southern African assessment emphasises an essential network of breeding, feeding and stopover wetlands. A South African flamingo research and conservation group was established in 2021.