Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseus
Size: | Up to 150 cms high |
Habitat: | Lakes and saltpans |
Feeding: | Algae and shrimp |
Greater Flamingos breed in large numbers in and around the Rift Valley lakes of East Africa.
They are a very familiar shape with a long neck, a large body and pink feathers. It is the algae that they eat that gives them their pink colour.
The Greater Flamingo is much larger than the Lesser Flamingo. It is a whiter colour and its beak is pink with a black tip.
These photos were taken at Lake Nakuru, Kenya. The second photo shows a comparison of the Greater and Lesser Flamingos. The Greater Flamingo is on the right.
Click on any of the photographs on this site to see a larger image.