The Rarest Flamingo Species Doesn't Live in the Tropics

Andean Flamingos, by Valerio Pillar   [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

These flamingos are mountain dwellers.   Their natural habitat is the western hemisphere's highest mountain range:  The Andes.  

In winter, you find them feeding in salt lakes high in the mountains of Chile and Peru.  They move to the lower wetlands of north western Argentina in the summer.

Estimates are that there are only about 34,000 to 38,000 Andean Flamingos in the world.  That's very few, compared to some of the other species, which number in the hundreds of thousands to several million.

Trevor Rickard [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

1 - If you want to know for sure that the big pink bird you are looking at is an Andean Flamingo, look at its legs. Are they yellow? Then, you're seeing one! This is the only one of the six species worldwide that has yellow legs.

2 - Other physical characteristics are:  paler pink plumage than some of the other kinds of flamingos, prominent black wing tips that shows even when their wings are folded, and black tail feathers.  

3 - They are the tallest members of the flamingo family, and can grow to a height of well over four feet tall.

 4 - If you see a flock of them flying overhead in the morning, take a good look... that flock may be far, far away by noontime. They are great long distance flyers, and have been known to fly as far as 700 miles in a single day.  

5 - They can live up to 40 years.   That's a long time!

With the conservation of this species being listed as "vunerable," a picture of one bird standing alone makes one think about what the future might hold for these beautiful creatures.

A species that is categorized as Vunerable is one with an uncertain future.  The status is the one in between the less severe "Near Threatened" and the more severe "Endangered."  

While there are a number of threats to this population of beautiful birds, two in particular stand out:  Mining and egg collectors.

MINING

Mining operations near breeding and feeding habitats has muddied the feeding waters, and raised the levels of the mineral borax. Borax has a toxic effect on flamingos, and may suppress futility.

Scientists have helped other species to establish new colonies in safer areas. Maybe they're pursuing a similar course of action for the Andean Flamingo.

By Luke Fitch [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

EGG "COLLECTION"

Though not as prevalent as some years ago, egg collection for human consumption is an extremely serious threat.  The practice would more accurately be labeled egg theft!

When a bird lays only ONE egg a YEAR, and some ninny thinks it's cool to steal that one egg, it says a lot of things about that person. None of them are favorable. Come on, people - stop stealing flamingo eggs. Get yourselves some chickens!