---
title: "Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "Pink from pigments in its food, a filter-feeding bill that works upside down, and a one-legged stance scientists aren't sure about."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/greater-flamingo-1.webp"
published: "2026-09-01"
updated: "2026-09-14"
---
# Greater Flamingo (*Phoenicopterus roseus*)
> **Status**: Checked against 7 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: Pink from pigments in its food, a filter-feeding bill that works upside down, and a one-legged stance scientists aren't sure about.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: 80s Retrowave & Synthwave // Timecop1983, "On the Run"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/6COsFwxCkIpXBYw4iiVWH4) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ci0Kgdpgsw)
> **Vibe Match**: Lush analog poly-synths and sun-drenched neon gated reverbs for a bird that wears makeup: it spreads preen oil carrying the same carotenoid pigments as its feathers over its plumage, most often while displaying in groups.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Phoenicopterus roseus*
- **Danger Level**: Low
- **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2021-3.rlts.t22697360a166321997.en))
- **Superpower**: A filter-feeding bill that works with the head upside down, in water with a pH of up to 11
- **Habitat**: Shallow lagoons, lakes, estuaries, and muddy beaches with very salty or extremely alkaline water (up to pH 11), from West Africa and parts of Europe to the Middle East and South Asia
- **Diet**: Algae, diatoms, brine shrimp, and chironomid ("lake fly") larvae filtered from mud and shallow water
- **Tags**: bird, wetlands, filter-feeder, social-colony
## Natural History & Behavior
## At Home in Salty, Alkaline Water
The **Greater Flamingo** (*Phoenicopterus roseus*) is the tallest and heaviest of the world's six flamingo species: adults stand 3.9 to 4.7 feet (120 to 145 centimeters) tall and weigh 4.6 to 9 pounds (2.1 to 4.1 kilograms). Flamingos live 20 to 30 years in the wild, and a zoo bird can go much longer: one wild-born male greater flamingo was estimated at 58.8 years old and was still alive at London Zoo in 2020. The species ranges from West Africa and parts of Europe through the Middle East to South and Southwest Asia. It mainly lives in the shallow water of lagoons, lakes, estuaries, and muddy beaches, where the water is very salty or extremely alkaline (the chemical opposite of acidic), with a pH of up to 11.
Because of the shape of its bill, a greater flamingo has to feed with its head upside down in the water. Flamingos suck water and mud in at the front of the bill, then pump it out at the sides, where plates called lamellae act like tiny filters. The greater flamingo's catch includes algae, brine shrimp, and chironomid ("lake fly") larvae.
> **The One-Leg Mystery** Scientists aren't sure why flamingos stand on one leg. One idea is that tucking the free leg against the body cuts heat loss, but the habit also shows up in hot climates. Another idea is simpler: standing that way is probably just comfortable.
## Pink Makeup and Group Displays
Flamingos get their pink from carotenoids, pigments like the ones in carrots, found in the algae and small crustaceans they eat. A greater flamingo also spreads preen oil, an oily fluid its own body makes, over its feathers. The oil carries the same carotenoids as the feathers, so it makes them more colorful, like makeup. One study found greater flamingos do this much more often while displaying in groups than during the rest of the year, and that birds with more colorful plumage started nesting earlier.
Flamingo group displays follow set moves with names like head-flagging, wing salutes, twist-preens, and marching, and the flocks can number in the thousands. Researchers scoring wild greater flamingos aged 4 to 37 found their displays grew more complex until about age 20 and less complex after that. Birds with more complex, varied displays were more likely to breed.
## Sharing the Nest
A breeding pair builds a nest mound, usually of mud. The female lays a single egg, and both parents take turns sitting on it for 27 to 31 days. In a study of one zoo flock in Italy, males spent more time than females on and near the nest, and were more aggressive toward other flamingos there. Flamingo chicks are fed "crop milk," a milky fluid from the parents' upper digestive tract that both mothers and fathers can provide. Feeding it drains a parent's color so much that its plumage can turn pale pink or white. Chicks soon leave the nest for a crèche, a flamingo daycare watched over by a few adults. In wild greater flamingos, hatching success is about 30%, because predators and other threats are common. Those threats are almost absent in captivity, and in the Italian zoo flock, 77% of breeding pairs had a chick.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### Why do flamingos feed with their heads held upside-down underwater?
Because of the shape of its bill, a greater flamingo has to bend so that its head is upside down in the water. It uses its long neck and bill to dig into the mud at the bottom, then filters out what lives there, such as algae, crustaceans, insect larvae, and mollusks. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())*
### Why do flamingos stand on one leg?
Scientists aren't sure. One idea is that tucking the free leg up against the body cuts heat loss, but flamingos also do it in hot climates. Another idea is simpler: standing that way is probably just comfortable. *(Source: [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]())*
### What is "crop milk," and do male flamingos make it too?
Crop milk is a milky fluid that comes from a flamingo parent's upper digestive tract. Both males and females can feed their chick this way, and even flamingos that are not the parents can act as foster-feeders. Feeding a chick this way drains the parents of their color, so much that their feathers can turn pale pink or white. *(Source: [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]())*
### How old can a greater flamingo get?
The AnAge ageing database lists a maximum lifespan in captivity of 58.8 years, from a wild-born male at London Zoo that was estimated to be that old and still alive in 2020. An Adelaide Zoo flamingo was reportedly 83 when it died in 2014, but that age has not been confirmed. *(Source: [AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources]())*
## Sources
1. [Flamingo. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.]()
2. [Phoenicopterus roseus (greater flamingo). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]()
3. [Phoenicopterus roseus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.]()
4. [Sandri et al. (2017). How to be a great dad: parental care in a flock of greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus). PeerJ.]()
5. [Perrot et al. (2016). Sexual display complexity varies non-linearly with age and predicts breeding status in greater flamingos. Scientific Reports.]()
6. [Amat et al. (2010). Greater flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus use uropygial secretions as make-up. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.]()
7. [Phoenicopterus roseus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22697360A166321997.]()
*Published September 1, 2026. Last updated September 14, 2026.*
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