10 Curious Facts about the Andean Flamingo

The Andean Flamingo’s Conservation Status

The Andean Flamingo is classified as vulnerable. The decrease in their population is mainly due to the erosion of their nesting sites, the loss of habitat and changes in water levels due to mining activities. It is estimated that currently there is a total of about 39,000 individuals living throughout the Andes Mountains in northern Chile, southern Peru, western Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.

Characteristics of the Andean Flamingo

1. Like other flamingo species, they usually stand on one leg. It is believed that they do so to preserve body heat.
2. During the winter, Andean flamingos migrate to lower altitude wetlands. They usually travel in flocks by night in search of food.
3. The flamingos of this species, like others, are filter feeders, consuming mainly diatoms and algae. First, they stir up the water with their legs and then dip their entire heads in and suck up everything. Moving their heads from side to side, their beaks filter the water and extract plankton, insect larvae and small fish.
4. Andean flamingos are not born pink; in fact, chicks are born gray or white and can take up to three years to achieve that striking color. The pink tones come from the flamingo’s ability to metabolize carotenoid pigments from their food.
5. Andean flamingos have pale pink bodies and a distinctive black triangle on their backs. Unlike other flamingos, their legs are yellow, and their bills are black and yellow.
6. They are very sociable birds and often form flocks of tens of thousands. However, males can become aggressive among themselves when they are protecting their partners.
7. Andean flamingos are monogamous, and couples can stay together for many years.
8. They have a very long life compared to other birds, living between 20 and 30 years in the wild and up to 50 years or more in captivity.
9. Their legs are longer than their upper bodies and can measure up to 1.25 meters in length. Their knees are only visible up close; what we see midway up their legs are their ankles and heels.
10. They use glands in their nostrils to filter excess salt from their bodies since they drink only fresh water, even though they live among the salt flats of the high plains.

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