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American Flamingo
American Flamingo

American Flamingo, Palm Beach Zoo

From Wikipedia:
The American Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo, or West Indian Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo. It has sometimes been considered conspecific but that treatment is now widely viewed (e.g. by the American and British Ornithologists' Unions) as incorrect due to a lack of evidence.

The American Flamingo breeds in the Galápagos Islands, coastal Colombia and Venezuela and nearby islands, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and in the northern Caribbean in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands. 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 (47–55 in) in length; males weigh 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) and females 2.2 kg (4.9 lb) 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.

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Taken on: August 29, 2009
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Camera: Sony DSLR-A900, f/5.6, 1/200 sec, 250mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Sony DSLR-A900
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length: 250mm
ISO: 500
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired
Exposure Program: Program AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Spot
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Daylight
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows
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