Creature Day

 

Well this morning it is another cold morning had over night rain and have unpacked the groceries. Anyway here is this weeks creature it is the greater flamingo, this regal looking bird owes its exquisite pink colour to the animals it eats, which are prawn like crustaceans that live in the saltwater mudflaps of south-western Europe.

Stirring up the mud with its webbed feet, the flamingo buries its long, bent beak, and sometimes its whole head, in the water to suck up the tiny treats.

Its tongue pumps up and down pushing the water out of its mouth and trapping the food in tiny filters. The greater flamingo is the largest of the family at 1.5m tall.

The live and breed in colonies of up to 200,000, there are safety in numbers, while some birds stand watch while others can feed. A loud deep warning honk, similar to that of a goose, alerts them to predators.

The greater flamingo is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, the Levant, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe.