James's Flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi) lives in salt lakes across South America. It feeds on brine shrimp algae. Its conservation status is Near Threatened.
Fascinating facts about the James's Flamingo
- James's flamingo was thought to have vanished until a hidden population was uncovered in a remote area in 1956, bringing the species back from presumed extinction. The bird inhabits the high-altitude Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and north-west Argentina, thriving in the thin air of those elevations. Its name honours the British naturalist Harry Berkeley James, who studied the species and after whom the bird was christened.
- The bird's neck contains 19 long cervical vertebrae, giving it an unusually wide range of head movement for a flamingo. This extensive flexibility lets the bird swing its head in an S-shape while feeding, positioning the bill precisely in shallow water. Its long, thin legs support this feeding posture, allowing it to wade into deep pools on the high-altitude lakes it calls home.
- James's flamingo possesses about 21 lamellae per centimetre in its bill, more than twice the density found in any other flamingo species. This dense filtration system is matched to the tiny diatoms it consumes, which range from 21 to 60 μm in size and are typically found near the water's edge.
- James's flamingo has the narrowest bill of any flamingo, with a reduced upper jaw and a hook-like tip that lets it plunge the beak into water while keeping its nostrils above the surface. This shape works with an exceptionally dense filter of about 21 lamellae per centimetre, more than twice the density of other species. The fine lamellae trap microscopic algae, especially diatoms that measure between 21 and 60 μm, which are most abundant near the water's edge.
- Both male and female James's flamingos feed their chicks by regurgitating a specialised crop secretion, a method they share with the Andean flamingo. This biparental care provides nutrients to the chicks in the high-altitude lakes where the species lives.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSouth America
HabitatSalt lakes
DietBrine shrimp algae
About the James's Flamingo
In the shimmering expanse of Andean salt lakes, the James's Flamingo glides with ethereal elegance, its pale pink feathers glowing like embers as it wades through the crystalline waters in search of brine shrimp and algae. With each deliberate step, its long, slender legs seem to dance across the lake's surface, leaving barely a ripple in their wake, as if the flamingo is floating across the water rather than walking. As the sun sets over the lake, the James's Flamingo's gentle majesty is illuminated, its fragile beauty a poignant reminder of the delicate balance of this fragile ecosystem.
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