Interesting Facts

• Lesser flamingos are one of the smallest of the six species of flamingo. You can distinguish them from greater flamingos, the other African species, by their smaller size and darker beaks.
• Lesser flamingos live in huge flocks that can number in the thousands. Their flocks are often mixed with greater flamingos.
• Lesser flamingos lay a single egg at a time. About six days after hatching, flamingo chicks gather in a large group called a créche. Parents are able to locate their own chicks in the créche when it is time to feed them.
• Flamingos are not born pink. Chicks are grey or white in color, and juveniles are brown. Adult flamingos get their iconic pink coloration from pigments in the algae they eat.

Conservation Status

Threats

Habitat loss and destruction of nesting areas is the greatest threat to this species.