Chilean Flamingo

The Chilean flamingo's plumage is pinker than the slightly larger greater flamingo, but less so than the American flamingo. It can be differentiated from these species by its grayish legs with pink joints, by the larger amount of black on the bill (more than half), and also by being a foot shorter than the American flamingo. Young chicks may have no sign of pink coloring whatsoever, but instead remain gray or peach. Young chicks will slowly gain their pink color as pigments called carotenoids from their diet accumulate in their feathers. Chilean flamingos reach sexual maturity at 6 years and have one of the longest lifespans of any bird, living up to 50 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity.

The Chilean flamingo's bill is equipped with comb-like structures that enable it to filter food—mainly algae, plankton, crustaceans, insects, mollusks and other invertebrates—from the water of the coastal mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, and salt lakes where it lives. The species filter feeds with its head upside down in shallow water. The flamingo then uses its muscular tongues to push water in and out of the lamellae on its bill. This allows the flamingo to filter different sizes of food to consume. Because the species feeds upside down, only the flamingo's upper bill can move as opposed to most animals that can only move their lower mandible. Chilean Flamingoes can consume 10% of their body weight every day. The species has been known to stand on one leg while feeding in water. Strong evidence suggests this behavior limits heat loss from standing in water for extended periods of time. Their long legs also help stir up the sediment to dislodge the small organisms they filter feed on.