Animalia Life
Phoenicopterus chilensis
TAXONOMY
Phoenicopterus chilensis Molina, 1782, Chile.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Flamant du Chili; German: Chileflamingo; Spanish:
Flamenco Chileno.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
38–42 in (96–107 cm); c. 5.0 lb (2.3 kg); female approximately
10% smaller than male. Smaller than the greater flamingo,
with overall coloring similar to that of the European-African-
Asian population, though pinker on the neck and breast. The
inner third of the bill is pink, the remainder black, while legs
are pink with darker pink joints. Chicks covered in gray down
when born; may retain gray markings, at least in part, or develop
white plumage that remains until two to three years of
age. The juvenile is gray-brown.
DISTRIBUTION
Central Peru south through Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina to
Tierra del Fuego.
HABITAT
Shallow saline and alkaline lakes and lagoons.
BEHAVIOR
Gregarious, with group displays involving ritualized movements
of head and wings, accompanied by loud calls. In flocks
of a few hundred to tens of thousands.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Sieves aquatic invertebrates, seeds, algae, and diatoms from
shallow water and mud.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Lays single egg (chakly-white, goose-sized) on mud nest close
to or in shallow water, the time of breeding being dictated by
rainfall rather than seasons. Nests in dense colonies, up to several
thousands of pairs. Incubation period 27–31 days; fledging
70–80 days. Both parents incubate and care for young, which
gather into groups. Productivity very variable, with complete
failures in some years.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Egg-harvesting and habitat destruction have
caused declines at some colonies, but overall status probably
stable.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Egg-harvesting and perhaps some hunting.
Photo Gallery of - Chilean flamingo
