American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

The American Flamingo is a deep-pink flamingo and the only one that occurs naturally in North America. It breeds across the Caribbean, northern South America, and the Galápagos; in the US, wild birds show up mainly in South Florida, where hunting had wiped out the flocks by about 1900. It is also called the Caribbean Flamingo.

Appearance

Appearance: Stands about 4–4.8 ft (120–145 cm) tall. Deep pink overall with red wing coverts and black flight feathers that show in flight. The bill is pink and white with a black tip, and the legs are entirely pink.
Voice: A goose-like honking.
Seasonal forms: The pink color comes from pigments in its food. Chicks hatch gray and color up as they grow.

Look-alikes

Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja

The spoonbill has a long, flat, spoon-tipped bill and lacks the flamingo's black flight feathers.

Why they get mixed upBoth are pink wading birds in Florida.

Chilean FlamingoPhoenicopterus chilensis

Paler pink, with gray legs and pink 'knees,' and more than half of the bill black. It stands about a foot shorter.

Why they get mixed upCommon in zoos; escaped birds sometimes wander in the US.

Greater FlamingoPhoenicopterus roseus

Much paler, whitish pink body; the American Flamingo is pink all over.

Why they get mixed upFormerly treated as the same species and kept in zoos.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: coastal lagoons
mudflats
shallow salt lakes
Range: Breeds in the West Indies (including the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola), the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, coastal northern South America, and the Galápagos. In the US, wild birds turn up mainly in South Florida, especially Florida Bay and the southern Everglades.
Seasonal presence: Florida birds are mostly visitors from Caribbean and Mexican colonies, with a few small groups that may stay year-round. Florida's wildlife agency now treats the species as native. In 2023, Hurricane Idalia blew flamingos far up the eastern US, with sightings as far north as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Preferred conditions: Wades in shallow, salty or brackish water where it can filter food from mud.

Behavior

Diet: Small crustaceans, mollusks, insects, seeds, and algae. It feeds with its head upside down, straining mud and water through comb-like plates in the bill.
Activity: Often rests standing on one leg, which seems to help it hold onto body heat.

Life cycle

Nest: A mound of mud with a shallow top.
Clutch size: 1 egg
Incubation: 28–32 days, shared by both parents.
Time to maturity: Usually starts breeding at about 6 years old.
Lifespan: About 40 years, among the longest of any bird.

Name and classification

About the name: It was once lumped with the Greater Flamingo of the Old World, but the two are now widely treated as separate species. The Galápagos birds are a separate (P. r. glyphorhynchus), smaller and genetically distinct.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Status: Heavy hunting had eliminated Florida's once-large flocks by about 1900. In the US the species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Culture and stories

Culture and stories: Flamingos became a symbol of Florida partly thanks to a 1920s Miami Beach hotel that took the bird's name for marketing.

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