NEW POST: THE GREAT FLAMINGO (FLAMINGO PHOTO BLOG)

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Hi Everybody!  Hope You all had a good weekend.
I thought we would start out the week with a bright pink subject:  The Flamingo. I have always admired these colorful birds, but have never seen one in real life. (They are not in this part of Texas). WOW, I found some great videos for this Flamingo Page and the greatest photostudy ever by:  
Barbara Matthews. Come on in, get comfortable, and delight in these wonderful birds!
(Thanks Barbara in California!)





Today I am showcasing the fantastic work of G+ Barbara Matthews. I found one of these Great Images of her Flamingoes on the Google Index when I was looking up the Flamingoes. These are the most fantastic photos I have ever seen of this graceful bird. So, I have reshared Barbara's images here on this page. Please leave any comments directly for her at the album link: 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116235714265664045436/albums/5709908879245155729

Study of Flamingos

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 -  16 photos  -  February 16, 2012

 
I encourage you to visit Barbara's Profile Post Page at this link:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/116235714265664045436/posts
and check out her beautiful work.

Works at Nightowl, amateur photographer, rodeo fan, avid reader & artistic explorer. Hoping to use up all my life before it uses me up.

Attended Sierra College

Lives in Grass Valley, CA

All of the videos on this page are from You Tube and they are Great!
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo

Flamingo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flamingos or flamingoes^[1] ( pronunciation (help·info)) are a type of wading bird in thegenus Phoenicopterus (from Greek φοινικόπτερος meaning "purple wing"), the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae. There are four flamingo species in the Americas and two species in the Old World.

Flamingo
Flamingos at Laguna Colorada
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Infraclass:	Neognathae
(unranked):	Mirandornithes
Order:	Phoenicopteriformes Fürbringer, 1888
Family:	Phoenicopteridae Bonaparte, 1831
Genus:	Phoenicopterus and Phoenicoparrus Linnaeus, 1758
Species
See text
Global distribution of the flamingos

Lifecycle

American Flamingo and offspring

Colony of flamingos at Lake Nakuru

Flamingos are very social birds that live in colonies that can number in the thousands. These large colonies are believed to serve three purposes for the flamingos: predator avoidance, maximizing food intake, and exploiting scarce suitable nesting sites.^[15] The most basic and stable social unit of flamingos are pair bonds which are made up of one male and one female. The bond between them tends to be strong; however, in larger colonies (where there are more mates to choose from), mate changes will occur.^[16] In pair bonds, both the male and the female contribute to building the nest for their egg and defending it. Before breeding, flamingo colonies split into breeding groups of around 15–50 birds. Both males and females in these groups perform synchronized ritual displays. These displays serve to both stimulate synchronous nesting and establish pair formation for birds that do not already have mates.^[17] A flamingo group stands together and display to each other by rasing neck, followed by calling with head-flagging and then wing flapping.^[18] The displays do not seem to be directed towards an individual but instead occur randomly.^[18]

Flamingo pair bonds establish and defend nesting territories. They locate a suitable spot on the mudflat to build a nest, which is usually chosen by the female.^[18] It is during nest building that copulation usually occurs. Nest building can also be interrupted by another couple trying to steal the nesting site. Flamingos will viciously defend their nesting sites and young. After the chicks hatch, the only parental expense is feeding.^[19] Flamingos produce a crop milk, like pigeons and doves, due to the action of a hormone called prolactin (see Columbidae). It contains more fat and less protein than the latter does, and it is produced in glands lining the whole of the upper digestive tract, not just the crop. Both parents nurse their chick, and young flamingos feed on this milk, which also contains red and white blood cells. In the first six days, the adults and chicks stay in the nesting sites. At around seven to twelve days the chicks begin to move and explore their surroundings. After two weeks, the chicks join groups called "microcrèches" and their parent soon leave them in these groups. Later, many microcrèches come together to form crèches which contain thousands of chicks. Chicks that do not stay in their crèches are vulnerable to predators.^[20]

[edit]Conservation status

Scientists have discovered that flamingos are dying by the thousands along the East African Rift lakes of Kenya and Tanzania. However, they are baffled as to the reason. Possible causes include avian cholera, botulism, metal poisoning, pesticides or poisonous bacteria, say researchers. Also, fears for the future of the Lesser Flamingo — Phoeniconaias minor — have been raised by plans to pipe water from one of their key breeding areas, the shores of Lake Natron. The lakes are crucial to the birds' breeding success because the flamingos feed off the blooms of cyanobacteria that thrive there.

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Feature Presentation:   This is Great, Great, Great!!
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Of course, one more great performance!!!!!

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116235714265664045436/albums/5709908879245155729
(All Flamingo Photos by:  Barbara Matthews   (Great!)


....this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek.  See You next time!

O+O