Elegance, beauty, unique charm and grace – that these words can most accurately describe the unusual and colorful birds that inhabit our planet.
Flamingo – real handsome among the members of his class. Rarely seen so well-built creature – flexible thin neck and long, graceful legs, unusually decorated with the bird and make it truly unique, created by nature.
The only representative of the detachment FlamingoBet. The detachment is divided into six types:
- Pink (common).
- Small.
- Red (Caribbean).
- Chilean.
- Flamingo James.
- The Andean.
The entire population that exists today, consists of only these six types. Birds similar in composition and shape, but depending on belonging to one of the types can have any distinctive features. For example, the lesser Flamingo is the smallest of all living birds party FlamingoBet. The growth of the adult reaches only ninety inches, and the weight stops at around two kilograms.
The largest representative of this group is the pink or common, the weight of such birds may reach four pounds and is two times more than the weight of a small Flamingo. The height of this species can reach one hundred forty centimeters. Almost always males more than females of the same age.
A distinctive feature of these birds is the length of their legs, and in particular the distance between the tibia and fingers. Her toes look a little up and between them are well-developed ear for swimming. Rear finger – the smallest of all and is above the rest.
Ornithologists have noted that flamingos standing in cold water, often tuck one leg up. This behavior is explained by the fact that standing only on one leg, a bird reduces the amount of heat lost, in order not to freeze.
In birds, this class is very interesting and well thought out nature of the beak. From the muzzle, he departs at a right angle and then bent down. It is a kind of filter consisting of a special Horny plates. With the help of it, Flamingo filtered water, to swallow only food.
His skeletal system and musculature similar to Flamingo birds such as storks. Long and graceful neck of a Flamingo consists of nineteen vertebrae, the last of them are part of the spinal bones. Bones are pneumatic cavities, which provide strength and lightness at a sufficiently small thickness.
Color
The color of flamingos varies from white to red. The color of the feathers of these birds depends on the concentration of special natural pigment called astaxanthin. This pigment gives the plumage a pink or red hue different brightness and saturation. Pen cover Flamingo is characterized by its looseness.
The young Flamingo has feathers, mud shade, but after the first molt young birds get feathers as adult birds. Interestingly, when moulting they lose their twelve tail feathers and lose the ability to fly for about ten to twenty days.
Flamingo – active flyers. Their wings are relatively short for such a long body, so the bird have to do them quite often flapping to stay in the air. Before the flight, doing a long run, and only typing the required speed, can get off the ground and fly. During flight these birds spread its graceful neck. Legs they also stretched.
Habitat and way of life
Flamingo?
Flamingo has quite a lot of places where they prefer to settle. They can be found in Europe and parts of Asia Minor, in East and West Africa. India is also included in the habitat of these delightful birds. South and Central America, Florida – an ordinary place populated by flamingos. France, southern Spain and Sardinia also attract these birds of their natural wealth.
For life the pink flamingos choose the shores of lagoons and ponds, long-haul, because they live in packs. In one colony may consist of up to a hundred thousand birds. Flamingos are well tolerated and the high and low temperature, so they can be found even in mountain lakes.
In the waters that choose these birds for life:
- Salt water.
- Not live fish.
- Inhabited by a large number of crustaceans.
If the birds need to wash off the salt crust with feathers or having thirst, they migrate to the ponds or springs with fresh clean water.
Today, the population of flamingos is decreasing rapidly and soon may be on the verge of extinction. The fact that active agricultural activity within the habitats of these birds destroys the place fit for a Flamingo. Soon it may lead to the fact that these wonderful creating just will have nowhere to settle.
Often human actions lead to the fact that water bodies that are habitat of the colony of shallow or dry. In such cases the birds have to leave a habitual place and to go in search of a new home that can to nothing lead. Also the migration of flamingos leads to environmental pollution and natural waters. Poachers often go to sleep chemical poisons directly into water, to make it easier to catch depleted fish. At present, Flamingo already listed in the Red book of many countries and are under the protection of the law.
These birds are quite a large number of natural enemies.
These include:
- Jackals.
- Fox.
- Grey and red wolves.
- Eagles and kites.
Reproduction
Flamingos are birds, living in pairs. Male and female choose a mate and remain together for life. Nests for posterity only build males, girls, flamingos do not take any part in this. The finished nest looks like a colon with a cut top, a height of about sixty inches and a diameter of approximately fifty centimeters.
For the construction of nests, males use:
- Shells fished out of the pond.
- Il.
- Dirt.
Nests located on the banks of ponds and their considerable height due to the fact that poultry is concerned about the ingress of water. If water filled the inside of the shelter the Chicks can choke and drown.
Females lay one to three white eggs, quite a large size. Hatching Chicks do both parents take turns, giving the partner the opportunity to rest and eat. When hatching eggs, the birds tucks his feet under him. In order to stand up, they rested beak in the ground and only after that start to rise.
Hatched Chicks, the parents feed their particular bird’s milk. This so-called milk consists of digestive juices and half-digested food. This food contains many nutrients and promotes proper development of the Chicks.
To get stronger Chicks require only three to five days. At this period of life they are already able to get out of the nest to explore the surrounding countryside. Young flamingos do not depart from the nest and parents too far, usually they just wander around. To the sixty-fifth day after birth, the Chicks are able to eat independently and they begin to manifest the ability to fly. By this time the Chicks reach the size of adult birds and differ from them only by their plumage. Full plumage as in the adult, appears at the Flamingo in the third year of life. And then comes the sexual maturity of these birds.
In the natural habitat of flamingos can live about forty years, but very often it turns out that the bird lives for so long, and die earlier for various reasons.
To the premature death of flamingos can result in:
- The machinations of the poachers.
- Of illness or injury.
- The lack of food.
- The death of a pair.
- The destruction of habitat and the problems with finding a new one.
- Predators.
Diet
Since flamingos settle on the banks of the various ponds, and food have to get yourself there. For this they seek the shallows and lowered his head into the water. Using a special filter made of Horny plates they filter the fluid and looking for something in her food. Above the beak of the Flamingo is appendage-like float. With the help of it, these extraordinary creatures are able to keep the head in the upper layer of water. There Flamingo sucks in her mouth a small amount of water and passes it through its natural filter. As a result, the liquid spits, and phytoplankton in the reservoir remains, and is used to feed poultry.
Also flamingos do not deny yourself the pleasure to eat:
- Various crustaceans.
- Algae.
- Crayfish.
- Insect larvae.
- Worms.
Incredibly, the search for food pink flamingos produce constantly, regardless of time of day. That is, these birds in the daytime and night-time feeding. Especially a lot of the time it takes in the fledging period, since they need a full and varied diet to grow quickly and flourish.
