The American Flamingo

A group of Flamingos by the entrance of the Zoo in Melbourne FL

Flamingo portrait

American Flamingo

The American Flamingo breeds in the Galapagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and Turks and Caicos. Most sightings in southern Florida are usually considered to be escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucatán Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park, and others may be genuine wanderers from Cuba.

Its preferred habitats are similar to that of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow brackish coastal or inland lakes. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.

The American Flamingo is 120–140 cm in length; males weigh 2.8 kg and females 2.2 kg. Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler Greater Flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. It is the only flamingo which naturally inhabits North America.

The bill is pink and white with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.

The American Flamingo is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.



Hi my friends,


I promised you yesterday some bird photos... here they are.... and there will be some more coming :) I hope you like them. I captured them by my recent visit to the Zoo in Melbourne, FL.

Thanks for all the comments yesterday to my new avatar :) don't take it too serious... I've decided not to look in the mirror anymore in the morning...*smile*... to keep my illusion to be still "young and beautiful"...LOL...


Have a wonderful day!
Susanne

Buy my photography printed, framed or stretched on Canvas here

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Visiting The Pearson's Falls in NC

The small path is guiding us up to the falls, we are surrounded with all those beautiful colors of green

It worth's the sweat you had on the way up to this point, to see this pretty scene of nature. The falls had not that much water as usual because of the high drought they have just now, allover in NC.

A pretty "mini" fall, seen crossing the small bridge
on the way up there

My abstract version of the creek

Pretty light...

To walk the way down was much easier. It was a very nice experience of the day to see this Pearson's Falls, a true treasure of mother nature.

Read here more about the Pearson's Falls:

Pearson's Falls Glen is the remarkable botanical wonderland that lies hidden in these great Blue Ridge Mountains. It was named for the young engineer Charles William Pearson who discovered the falls area while scouting for passage through the mountains for what was to be the Southern Railroad. A military man, farmer, and an engineer, Captain Pearson bought the glen as part of a large tract of land that he wanted for his family. For years he and his heirs allowed generations of young people to picnic on the great stone table-rock that you will see at the foot of the falls. Botanists and bird-fanciers from all over the country have come to discover and catalog the wonders of this glen area.

My NEW KEY WEST 2009 CALENDARS are available now! This year I have made NEW also some CHARLESTON CALENDARS 2009 and a pretty CALENDAR 2009 with FLOWERS from the Lowcountry!

Check it out please and support a starving artist.
THANKS :-)

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