Bu Tinah

Greater Flamingo

Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811

The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) or ‘fanteer’ is a species with a broad distribution range from the western Mediterranean to Sri Lanka in the north, to South Africa in the south and can be seen in alkaline or saline lakes, lagoons and estuaries, fresh and salt waters and artificial wetlands. The species is a common winter visitor to the UAE and is a common site in lagoons and on mudflats of the coast.

Flamingos have very characteristic curved billed with lamellae, allowing it to filter feed on small organisms such as brine shrimps, a preferred food of the species. They make mounds and lay a single egg. Flamingos have bred in the UAE only thrice and the first ever protected area in the Emirate was declared following successful breeding at Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba Wetland Reserve.

Its large size of 120-145 cm high allows the greater flamingo to wade into deeper water than most other flamingos. This species typically feeds with the head and most of the neck underwater, while walking along steadily, often stirring up the bottom mud with the feet, to bring out prey. The tongue is used to ‘pump’ water through the specialized beak, which has rows of comb-like plates that filter out food items, such as small crustaceans, mollusks, worms, insects, crabs, and even small fish. The presence of certain carotenoid pigments in the algae and crustaceans are what give the flamingo its distinctive pink plumage.

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi is leading a high-tech programme to tag some of the UAE’s flamingos in order to learn more about these birds and the threats they face.

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and listed on Appendix II of CITES.