Lesser Flamingo

• comportamientoIt is the smallest and most numerous flamingo in the world, and its great gatherings on African alkaline lakes can exceed a million birds.
• It is the smallest flamingo and the most abundant at the same time: an unusual combination among large birds.
• The vagrants that reach southern Europe are recorded mainly in Spain, though such sightings are exceptional.
• Its genus, Phoeniconaias, was created in 1869 for this species alone, and there are genetic proposals to merge it with Phoenicoparrus.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Alkaline and saline lakes, chiefly in the African Great Rift Valley, as well as Pakistan and north-western India

Sexual maturity

3 years

Litter / clutch size

A single white egg, as in the rest of the flamingos, on a mud nest shaped like a truncated cone

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List · Wikipedia (Phoeniconaias minor) · IOC World Bird List · Torres et al. (filogenia de Phoenicopteridae, 12 loci nucleares y 2 mitocondriales)

Best time: All year round in the Great Rift Valley; in Spain it appears only as an exceptional vagrant