Phoenicopterus roseus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PHOENICOPTERIFORMES	PHOENICOPTERIDAE

Scientific Name:

Phoenicopterus roseus

Species Authority:

Pallas, 1811

Common Name/s:

English

–

Greater Flamingo

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2009

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

Contributor/s:

Childress, B.

Justification:
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History:

2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern
2000	–	Not Recognized
1994	–	Not Recognized
1988	–	Not Recognized

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is regularly seen from West Africa eastward throughout the Mediterranean to South West and South Asia, and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The Palearctic population (including West Africa, Iran and Kazakhstan) is estimated to number between 205,000 and 320,000, the South West and South Asian populations combined at 240,000, and the sub-Saharan African populations between 100,000 and 120,000¹³. The Palearctic population appears to be increasing, while the Asian and sub-Saharan African populations appear to be stable¹³.
Countries:	Native: Afghanistan; Angola; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Botswana; Burundi; Cambodia; Cape Verde; Comoros; Cyprus; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; Ethiopia; France; Gambia; Gibraltar; Greece; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Maldives; Mauritania; Mayotte; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nepal; Oman; Pakistan; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Portugal; Qatar; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Slovenia; Somalia; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Syrian Arab Republic; Tanzania, United Republic of; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Uzbekistan; Western Sahara; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe Vagrant: Austria; Belarus; Belgium; Bulgaria; Cameroon; China; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Equatorial Guinea; Finland; Germany; Hungary; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lesotho; Malta; Mauritius; Mongolia; Montenegro; Niger; Norway; Poland; Réunion; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Swaziland; Sweden; Switzerland; Tajikistan
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Behaviour Juveniles, and to a lesser extent adults⁹, are prone to irregular nomadic or partially migratory movements throughout the species's range in response to water-level changes^{4, 6} or food availability³. Members of the Palearctic population are partially migratory^{1, 6} and regularly travel to warmer regions in the winter via favoured stop-over sites¹ (non-breeders may be present all year round in the wintering areas)^{6, 16}. In the Mediterranean and West Africa, breeding colonies appear to be linked by a significant frequency of juvenile and adult dispersal and are thus considered to belong to a single metapopulation¹⁵. Members of the Asian populations move from their breeding sites at inland lakes to coastal wetlands during non-breeding periods¹⁷, and when not breeding the sub-Saharan African population tends to disperse among the alkaline-saline lakes and wetlands of eastern and southern Africa^{18, 19}. The Palearctic population breeds regularly from March to June in large dense single-species colonies of up to 20,000 pairs (occasionally up to 200,000 pairs)¹ and in some regions may undergo a post-breeding flightless moult period where adults gather in flocks on inaccessible waters⁵. The Asian and sub-Saharan populations breed irregularly following the rains, often in large mixed colonies with Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor^{17, 20, 21}. The species is gregarious and commonly occurs in flocks of 100 or more outside of the breeding season³, with thousands often flocking together³ in areas rich in food or at freshwater inlets of saline or alkaline lakes to drink and bathe⁶. In sub-Saharan Africa, the species may also join large flocks of non-breeding Lesser Flamingo. The species is a bottom feeder⁶ and forages both by day and night³, feeding by filtering particles through tiny platelets in the bill⁶. It also often roosts at night in large flocks³. Habitat The species inhabits shallow (c.1 m deep over a large area)⁶ eutrophic waterbodies⁴ such as saline lagoons, saltpans and large saline or alkaline lakes^{1, 3} up to pH 11⁶. It will also frequent sewage treatment pans, inland dams⁴, estuaries³ and coastal waters¹⁴, seldom alighting on freshwater but commonly bathing and drinking from freshwater inlets entering alkaline or saline lakes³. It nests and roosts on sandbanks^{1, 3}, mudflats¹, islands³ or boggy, open shores⁵. Diet Its diet consists of crustaceans¹ (especially brine shrimp Artemia salina)³, molluscs, annelid worms, larval aquatic insects, small fish, adult terrestrial insects (e.g. water beetles, ants), the seeds or stolons of marsh grasses, algae, diatoms and decaying leaves¹. It may also ingest mud in order to extract organic matter (e.g. bacteria)¹. Breeding site The species nests in large dense colonies on mudflats or islands of large waterbodies, occasionally also on bare rocky islands¹, with a distance between neighbouring nests of between 20 and 50 cm⁶. The nest is usually an inverted cone of hardened mud⁵ with a shallow depression on the top (alternatively it may be a small pile of stones and debris when mud is not available)¹. Management information The removal of sand polluted with lead shot from a salt-lake in Cyprus was successful in significantly reducing the numbers of deaths due to lead poisoning¹⁰. At two colonies (one in France and one in Spain) management techniques to counteract erosion and the lack of suitable nesting islands were successfully applied in order to encourage breeding by the species¹¹.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

Behaviour Juveniles, and to a lesser extent adults⁹, are prone to irregular nomadic or partially migratory movements throughout the species's range in response to water-level changes^{4, 6} or food availability³. Members of the Palearctic population are partially migratory^{1, 6} and regularly travel to warmer regions in the winter via favoured stop-over sites¹ (non-breeders may be present all year round in the wintering areas)^{6, 16}. In the Mediterranean and West Africa, breeding colonies appear to be linked by a significant frequency of juvenile and adult dispersal and are thus considered to belong to a single metapopulation¹⁵. Members of the Asian populations move from their breeding sites at inland lakes to coastal wetlands during non-breeding periods¹⁷, and when not breeding the sub-Saharan African population tends to disperse among the alkaline-saline lakes and wetlands of eastern and southern Africa^{18, 19}. The Palearctic population breeds regularly from March to June in large dense single-species colonies of up to 20,000 pairs (occasionally up to 200,000 pairs)¹ and in some regions may undergo a post-breeding flightless moult period where adults gather in flocks on inaccessible waters⁵. The Asian and sub-Saharan populations breed irregularly following the rains, often in large mixed colonies with Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor^{17, 20, 21}. The species is gregarious and commonly occurs in flocks of 100 or more outside of the breeding season³, with thousands often flocking together³ in areas rich in food or at freshwater inlets of saline or alkaline lakes to drink and bathe⁶. In sub-Saharan Africa, the species may also join large flocks of non-breeding Lesser Flamingo. The species is a bottom feeder⁶ and forages both by day and night³, feeding by filtering particles through tiny platelets in the bill⁶. It also often roosts at night in large flocks³. Habitat The species inhabits shallow (c.1 m deep over a large area)⁶ eutrophic waterbodies⁴ such as saline lagoons, saltpans and large saline or alkaline lakes^{1, 3} up to pH 11⁶. It will also frequent sewage treatment pans, inland dams⁴, estuaries³ and coastal waters¹⁴, seldom alighting on freshwater but commonly bathing and drinking from freshwater inlets entering alkaline or saline lakes³. It nests and roosts on sandbanks^{1, 3}, mudflats¹, islands³ or boggy, open shores⁵. Diet Its diet consists of crustaceans¹ (especially brine shrimp Artemia salina)³, molluscs, annelid worms, larval aquatic insects, small fish, adult terrestrial insects (e.g. water beetles, ants), the seeds or stolons of marsh grasses, algae, diatoms and decaying leaves¹. It may also ingest mud in order to extract organic matter (e.g. bacteria)¹. Breeding site The species nests in large dense colonies on mudflats or islands of large waterbodies, occasionally also on bare rocky islands¹, with a distance between neighbouring nests of between 20 and 50 cm⁶. The nest is usually an inverted cone of hardened mud⁵ with a shallow depression on the top (alternatively it may be a small pile of stones and debris when mud is not available)¹. Management information The removal of sand polluted with lead shot from a salt-lake in Cyprus was successful in significantly reducing the numbers of deaths due to lead poisoning¹⁰. At two colonies (one in France and one in Spain) management techniques to counteract erosion and the lack of suitable nesting islands were successfully applied in order to encourage breeding by the species¹¹.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The species suffers from low reproductive success if exposed to disturbance at breeding colonies^{2, 7} (e.g. from tourists, low-flying aircraft² and especially all-terrain vehicles⁷), or if water-levels surrounding nest-sites lower (resulting in increased access to and therefore predation from ground predators such as foxes and feral dogs)¹⁰. The lowering of water levels in lakes can also lead to hyper-salinity which may affect food resources⁸. Other threats to the species's habitat include effluents from soda-ash mining^{4, 8}, pollution from sewage and heavy metal effluents from industries⁸. The species also suffers mortality from lead poisoning (lead shot ingestion)^{9, 10}, collisions with fences and powerlines⁴, and from diseases such as tuberculosis, septicemia⁸ and avian botulism¹². Utilisation In Egypt large numbers of adults are shot or captured to be sold in markets¹, and egg collecting from colonies occurs in some areas (this may become a threat)².

Major Threat(s):

The species suffers from low reproductive success if exposed to disturbance at breeding colonies^{2, 7} (e.g. from tourists, low-flying aircraft² and especially all-terrain vehicles⁷), or if water-levels surrounding nest-sites lower (resulting in increased access to and therefore predation from ground predators such as foxes and feral dogs)¹⁰. The lowering of water levels in lakes can also lead to hyper-salinity which may affect food resources⁸. Other threats to the species's habitat include effluents from soda-ash mining^{4, 8}, pollution from sewage and heavy metal effluents from industries⁸. The species also suffers mortality from lead poisoning (lead shot ingestion)^{9, 10}, collisions with fences and powerlines⁴, and from diseases such as tuberculosis, septicemia⁸ and avian botulism¹². Utilisation In Egypt large numbers of adults are shot or captured to be sold in markets¹, and egg collecting from colonies occurs in some areas (this may become a threat)².

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Phoenicopterus roseus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012.
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