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| Common Name: | Chilean Flamingo | Family: | Phoenicopteridae |
| Latin Name: | Phonicopterus Chilensis | Diet: | Omnivore |
| Type: | Birds | Habitat: | Oceans and wetlands |
| Native To: | South America | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Near Threatened |
Chilean flamingos at Edinburgh Zoo
At Edinburgh Zoo, our Chilean flamingos are fed on a diet of pellets which have been specially formulated with the dietary colours needed for the flamingos to stay ‘in the pink’. The pellets also float in water and gradually sink, providing the birds with opportunities to use all their natural foraging behaviours.
A muddy area at the south end of the flamingos’ enclosure is created in the spring to allow the birds to build their nests. Look out for birds building nests and sitting on eggs any time from May throughout the summer.
If the birds have had a good year, you will see the fluffy grey chicks in the enclosure with the adults over the winter, and you will be able to tell the parents apart too – the strain of rearing youngsters leaves the successful parents almost white! 2009 was the most successful Chilean flamingo breeding season ever at Edinburgh Zoo, with 6 chicks surviving to maturity and a further 4 chicks hatched in 2010.
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
The Chilean flamingo enclosure is on the right-hand side as you enter the park. The flamingos share their enclosure with the scarlet ibis and the chiloe wigeon.
Chilean flamingos in the wild
The Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) breeds in central Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and possibly in Paraguay. They winter in Uruguay and Brazil.
There are 6 species of flamingo around the world. The Chilean flamingo is a pale salmon-pink colour and can be identified easily by its grey legs and pink knees and feet. It is closely related to 2 other species of flamingo, the paler greater flamingo and the much brighter Caribbean flamingo.
All flamingos share a number of characteristics: they are all pink, taking their colour from the tiny crustaceans and algae which they eat. They all have a peculiar-looking beak, which is designed to float upside down in the water and filter out their food. They all lay a single chalky-white egg on a tall mud nest. They can all inhabit inhospitable saline and soda lakes which other animals simply cannot tolerate.
The number of Chilean flamingos in the wild is declining due to habitat destruction, egg-harvesting, and hunting. The population of these birds has fallen from an estimated 500,000 in the mid-1970s to an estimated 200,000 today. As a result of this decline in population, the Chilean flamingo is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as Near Threatened, meaning that it is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
IUCN Red List category: Near Threatened
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