Flamingos
Flamingos are iconic, fascinating, reddish pink birds that live on and near saline lakes, some are orange, even crimson, if they have a varying diet and lifestyle because the flamingo colors are usually a result of carotenoids and natural pigments that the birds get from the food, they eat which they store in their feathers, skin, and eyes.
The Flamingoes are popular in the sub-Saharan region of Africa mostly in Kenya an Tanzania, with lakes Nakuru and Natron having the most huge populations of the these birds, they are the most famous breeding ground for flamingos in the region. But you can find these birds in several places in the two countries: usually in places with salt lakes and pans because flamingos inhabit, in salt lake areas, coastal areas and pans.
The flamingoes in East Africa have a very distinctive pink color only specific to the African region from the carotenoid pigments they eat from the food they get from the African in the food they eat. They flamingoes are blessed with long necks and legs that help them wade and feed normally in shallow waters. Their unique beak shape has a filtering system which helps them eat small crustaceans and algae in the water.
The flamingoes feed on numerous small crustaceans, algae, plankton and a couple of other creatures found in the water. While feeding they use their beak shaped mouths to filter small particles from the water.
The Flamingos have elaborate courtship displays that include ritualized postures and displays of plumage because they are very social birds who live, feed and move in in large groups. They communicate using an array of sounds like grunts, growls, and high-pitched calls.
The flamingoes are social animals the live and feed in groups of about 100 or more flamingoes; this helps them to find food easily and avoid being attacked predators. Because when they are many together they can easily scare away animals that want to prey on them.
These birds are monogamous with each male pairing with one female for years until death does them part like for the humans. But for these birds, when their companion dies they will most likely not pair up with any other bird. So, it’s the colonies of these pairs that move and feed together, as stated usually in thousands. The females lays single eggs at a time that are incubated over a month, 28, or 24 days before a chick may hatch.
The East African region has what they call the lesser flamingoes which are listed on the vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because they are threatened by habitat loss and degradation in most parts of Africa. Also the every changing climate in the different regions of Africa affects flamingo lifestyles, availability of food for these birds, habitats etc which makes conserving these birds really challenging and unattainable in most parts of the Africa.
That said there are some parts of Africa that have greater flamingoes, so if you want to spot either the lesser or greater flamingoes you will surely see them. You can find Flamingoes at the Lake Nakuru National Park, Lake Bogoria and Naivasha lake in Kenya, then Lake Natron in the Rift Valley region of Tanzania.
The best time to see flamingoes is any time of the day really but up-close and personally early mornings and late afternoons are perfect time blocks because the birds are quite more active then. You can have your flamingo trip any time of the year, the flamingos are there; but they are huge populations during the end of the dry season like at the start of the August.
