Flamingo Facts

About the flamingo

Six species exist: four in the Americas (the Caribbean among them) and two in Africa and Eurasia. The greater and American flamingos are the giants, standing 120 to 145 cm (47 to 57 in) tall, while the lesser flamingo reaches only 80 to 90 cm. Wingspans go from about 95 cm up to 165 cm. That one-legged pose may save body heat or effort, and one study found it can be held with no muscle activity at all.

Their legs seem to bend backward when they walk because that middle joint is the ankle, not the knee. Webbed feet help them swim and stir up food by stamping in mud. Flamingos fly well too, which is why zoos often clip their wings. In 2005 two African flamingos escaped from a zoo in Wichita, Kansas, and one turned up in Texas 14 years later. Their closest relatives turn out to be grebes.

Did you know?

• Flamingos and grebes share at least 11 body traits not found in any other birds.
• Charles Lucien Bonaparte named the flamingo family in 1831.
• Flamingos carry feather lice otherwise found only on ducks and geese.