| Caribbean Flamingo | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Phoenicopterus ruber |
Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo (120-140cm) closely related to Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo, with which it is sometimes considered conspecific. This article follows the treatment Ibis (2002) 144 707-710.
Like all flamingos it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound.
Most of the plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of Rosy Flamingo and differentiating adults from the much whiter European species. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. It is the only flamingo which naturally occurs in North America
The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.