Phoeniconaias minor Lesser Flamingo

IUCN Red List - Near Threatened

The Lesser Flamingo breeds in huge colonies on saline lakes and coastal lagoons, usually far from shore. The diet of the Lesser Flamingo consists almost entirely of microscopic blue-green algae. The Lesser Flamingo breeds mainly in the Rift Valley lakes of East Africa. Smaller populations also breed in west Africa, Southern Africa and parts of India and Pakistan. Global population is between 2,220,000 and 3,240,000. During the non breeding season the species wanders widely which makes estimates difficult, but numbers are thought to be decreasing. The main breeding grounds of the Lesser Flamingo at Lake Natron in Tanzania are threatened by proposed ash mining and hydroelectric power schemes which would be devastating for this species. The Lesser Flamingos are also facing malnutrition due to the introduction of a brine shrimp species which kills the algae on which the flamingos feed. Land use pressures, pollution and disturbance from growing human populations also threaten this species.

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