Caribbean Flamingo
The Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo. With his deeply red colour the Caribbean flamingo is the most beautiful one of all flamingo-species; other ones are pink or white.
| Kingdom: | : | Animalia |
| Phylum: | : | Aves |
| Class: | : | Animalia |
| Order: | : | Phoenicopteriformes |
| Family: | : | Phoenicopteridae |
| Genus: | : | Phoenicopterus |
| Species: | : | Phoenicopterus ruber ruber |
Where does the Caribbean Flamingo breed?
The Caribbean Flamingo breeds in the Galapagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and Turks and Caicos.
Where do Caribbean flamingos live?
The Caribbean Flamingo preferred habitats are similar to that of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow brackish coastal or inland lakes. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. The Caribbean Flamingo life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.
Caribbean Flamingo details
The Caribbean Flamingo is 120–140 cm in length; males weigh 2.8 kg and females 2.2 kg. Most of its plumage is roseate till red, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler Greater Flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black.
Another detail about the Caribbean Flamingo
The bill of the Caribbean Flamingo is pink and white with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.
