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39-449: The basin consists of hundreds of drainage channels, known as iishana (singular oshana ), that flow from north to south from the southern Angolan highlands to Namibia's Etosha pan . Many of these channels are dry for most of the year but are prone to major flooding during the rainy season due to the terrain being extremely flat. Most of the basin lies between 1,100 and 1,200 metres above sea level with little change in altitude. Located in

78-561: A World Wildlife Fund ecoregion (Etosha Pan halophytics ). Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes ( / f l ə ˈ m ɪ ŋ ɡ oʊ z / ) are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae , which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes . There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean), and two species native to Afro-Eurasia . A group of flamingoes

117-672: A change in river direction, resulting in the lake running dry and leaving a salt pan. Nowadays the Ekuma River , the Nipelo River , the Cuvelai River and the Omurambo Ovambo River are the sole seasonal sources of water for the lake. Typically, not much river water or sediment reaches the dry lake, because water seeps away into the riverbed along its 250-kilometre (160 mi) course, reducing discharge along

156-401: A deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kilometre-long (75-mile-long) dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park , Namibia's second-largest wildlife park, covering 22,270 square kilometres (8,600 sq mi). The pan is mostly dry but after heavy rains it is flooded with a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on

195-581: A group stand together and display to each other by stretching their necks upwards, then uttering calls while head-flagging, and then flapping their wings. The displays do not seem directed towards an individual, but occur randomly. These displays stimulate "synchronous nesting" (see below) and help pair up those birds that do not already have mates. Flamingos form strong pair bonds , although in larger colonies, flamingos sometimes change mates, presumably because more mates are available to choose. Flamingo pairs establish and defend nesting territories. They locate

234-512: A large number of migratory birds. The hypersaline pan supports brine shrimp and a number of extremophile micro-organisms tolerant of the high saline conditions.(C.Michael Hogan. 2010.) In particularly good rainy seasons the Etosha pan is turned into a shallow lake approximately 10 cm in depth and becomes the breeding ground for flamingos , which arrive in their thousands and great white pelican ( Pelecanus onocrotalus ). The surrounding savanna

273-502: A one-legged posture. While walking, a flamingo's legs may appear to bend backwards. This appearance is due to the middle joint on their legs being their ankle, not their knee. Flamingos also have webbed feet that aid with swimming and they may stamp their feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. Flamingos are capable flyers, and flamingos in captivity often require wing clipping to prevent escape. A pair of African flamingos which had not yet had their wings clipped escaped from

312-438: A relation with grebes , while morphological evidence also strongly supports a relationship between flamingos and grebes. They hold at least 11 morphological traits in common, which are not found in other birds. Many of these characteristics have been previously identified on flamingos, but not on grebes. The fossil palaelodids can be considered evolutionarily, and ecologically, intermediate between flamingos and grebes. For

351-421: A result of a 2014 publication, the family was reclassified into two genera. In 2020, the family had three recognized genera, according to HBW . Prehistoric species of flamingo: Flamingos usually stand on one leg with the other tucked beneath the body. The reason for this behaviour is not fully understood. One theory is that standing on one leg allows the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend

390-479: A significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behaviour also takes place in warm water and is also observed in birds that do not typically stand in water. An alternative theory is that standing on one leg reduces the energy expenditure for producing muscular effort to stand and balance on one leg. A study on cadavers showed that the one-legged pose could be held without any muscle activity, while living flamingos demonstrate substantially less body sway in

429-438: A suitable spot on the mudflat to build a nest (the female usually selects the place). Copulation usually occurs during nest building, which is sometimes interrupted by another flamingo pair trying to commandeer the nesting site for their use. Flamingos aggressively defend their nesting sites. Both the male and the female contribute to building the nest, and to protecting the nest and egg. Same-sex pairs have been reported. After

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468-607: A while, the microcrèches merge into "crèches" containing thousands of chicks. Chicks that do not stay in their crèches are vulnerable to predators. When young flamingos are around three to three and a half months old, their flight feathers will finish growing in, allowing them to fly. The first flamingo hatched in a European zoo was a Chilean flamingo at Zoo Basel in Switzerland in 1958. Since then, over 389 flamingos have grown up in Basel and been distributed to other zoos around

507-416: A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; even if adequately nourished, they may turn a pale pink if they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. The greater flamingo is the tallest of the six different species of flamingos, standing at 3.9 to 4.7 feet (1.2 to 1.4 m) with a weight up to 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg), and

546-421: Is also a mention of flamingo brains in a later, highly contentious source, detailing, in the life of Elagabalus , a food item not apparently to his liking as much as camels ' heels and parrot tongues, in the belief that the latter was a prophylactic : In imitation of Apicius he frequently ate camels-heels and also cocks-combs taken from the living birds, and the tongues of peacocks and nightingales , because he

585-463: Is called a "flamboyance". The name flamingo comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo ' flame-colored ' , which in turn comes from Provençal flamenc – a combination of flama ' flame ' and a Germanic-like suffix -ing . The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym flamenco ' Fleming ' or ' Flemish ' . The name of the genus, Phoenicopterus ,

624-487: Is from Ancient Greek φοινικόπτερος (phoinikopteros)  ' crimson /red-feathered'; other genera names include Phoeniconaias , which means ' crimson/red water nymph (or naiad) ' , and Phoenicoparrus , which means ' crimson/red bird (though, an unknown bird of omen ) ' . The family Phoenicopteridae was introduced by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1831, with Phoenicopterus as

663-518: Is home to thousands of mammals that will visit the pan and surrounding waterholes when there is water. These include quite large numbers of zebra , wildebeest , gemsbok , springbok and eland , as well as black rhinoceros , bush elephants , lions , leopards , and giraffe . The Etosha Pan is situated completely within the boundaries of the Etosha National Park and is designated as a Ramsar wetland of international importance and

702-515: The Wichita, Kansas , zoo in 2005. One was spotted in Texas 14 years later. It had been seen previously by birders in Texas, Wisconsin and Louisiana. Young flamingos hatch with grayish-red plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored, thus a more desirable mate;

741-522: The type genus . Traditionally, the long-legged Ciconiiformes , probably a paraphyletic assemblage, have been considered the flamingos' closest relatives and the family was included in the order. Usually, the ibises and spoonbills of the Threskiornithidae were considered their closest relatives within this order. Earlier genetic studies, such as those of Charles Sibley and colleagues, also supported this relationship. Relationships to

780-576: The waterfowl were considered as well, especially as flamingos are parasitized by feather lice of the genus Anaticola , which are otherwise exclusively found on ducks and geese. The peculiar presbyornithids were used to argue for a close relationship between flamingos, waterfowl, and waders. A 2002 paper concluded they are waterfowl , but a 2014 comprehensive study of bird orders found that flamingos and grebes are not waterfowl, but rather are part of Columbea , along with doves , sandgrouse , and mesites . Recent molecular studies have suggested

819-461: The blue-green algae that gives the Etosha Pan its characteristic colouring, and grasses like Sporobolus spicatus which quickly grow in the wet mud following good rains. Surrounding the pan, grasslands provide food for grazing animals. This harsh dry land with its sparse vegetation and insufficient amount of salty water, supports little wildlife all year round, but is sometimes inhabited by

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858-447: The chicks hatch, the only parental expense is feeding. Both the male and the female feed their chicks with a kind of crop milk , produced in glands lining the whole of the upper digestive tract (not just the crop). The hormone prolactin stimulates production. Crop milk contains both fat and protein, as with mammalian milk, but unlike mammalian milk, it contains no carbohydrates. ( Pigeons and doves also produce crop milk, though just in

897-614: The country, yet about 40% of Namibia's population lives here with around 850,000 people. The basin is traditionally dominated by the Owambo people and so is often referred to as the Owambo Basin by geologists. Etosha pan The Etosha Pan is a large endorheic salt pan , forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia . It is a vast hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which

936-503: The emperor's arrival in Rome , at which two thousand of the choicest fishes and seven thousand birds are said to have been served. He himself eclipsed even this at the dedication of a platter, which on account of its enormous size he called the "Shield of Minerva , Defender of the City." In this he mingled the livers of pike, the brains of pheasants and peacocks , the tongues of flamingoes and

975-410: The food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down. The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae, which line the mandibles, and the large, rough-surfaced tongue. The pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from carotenoids in their diet of animal and plant plankton . American flamingos are a brighter red color because of the beta carotene availability in their food while

1014-421: The glands lining the crop, which contains less fat and more protein than flamingo crop milk.) For the first six days after the chicks hatch, the adults and chicks stay in the nesting sites. At around 7–12 days old, the chicks begin to move out of their nests and explore their surroundings. When they are two weeks old, the chicks congregate in groups, called "microcrèches", and their parents leave them alone. After

1053-666: The globe. Greater , an at least 83-year-old greater flamingo , believed to be the oldest in the world, died at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia in January 2014. Zoos have used mirrors to improve flamingo breeding behaviour. The mirrors are thought to give the flamingos the impression that they are in a larger flock than they actually are. While many different kinds of birds were valued items in Roman food, flamingos were among

1092-406: The grebe-flamingo clade , the taxon Mirandornithes ("miraculous birds" due to their extreme divergence and apomorphies) has been proposed. Alternatively, they could be placed in one order, with Phoenocopteriformes taking priority. The cladogram below showing the phylogenetic relationships between the six extant flamingo species is based on a study by Roberto Frias-Soler and collaborators that

1131-676: The land masses of the Northern Hemisphere , a wet climate phase in Southern Africa caused the Etosha Lake to be filled up. Today however the Etosha Pan is mostly made up of dry clay split into hexagonal shapes as it dries and cracks, and is seldom seen with even a thin sheet of water covering it. It is assumed that the Kunene River fed the lake in the distant past, but tectonic plate movements over time caused

1170-856: The lesser flamingos are a paler pink due to ingesting a smaller amount of this pigment. These carotenoids are broken down into pigments by liver enzymes. The source of this varies by species, and affects the color saturation. Flamingos whose sole diet is blue-green algae are darker than those that get it second-hand by eating animals that have digested blue-green algae. Though flamingos prefer to drink freshwater, they are equipped with glands under their eyes that remove extra salt from their bodies. This organ allows them to drink saltwater as well. Flamingos are considered very noisy birds with their noises and vocalizations ranging from grunting or growling to nasal honking. Vocalizations play an important role in parent-chick recognition, ritualized displays, and keeping large flocks together. Variations in vocalizations exist in

1209-528: The milt of lampreys , brought by his captains and triremes from the whole empire, from Parthia to the Spanish strait . Martial , the poet, devoted an ironic epigram , alluding to flamingo tongues: Latin : Dat mihi penna rubens nomen; sed lingua gulosis Nostra sapit: quid, si garrula lingua foret? [Translated:] My red wing gives me my name; but it is my tongue that is considered savoury by epicures. What, if my tongue had been able to sing? There

Cuvelai-Etosha Basin - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-634: The most prized in Ancient Roman cuisine. An early reference to their consumption, and especially of their tongues, is found in Pliny the Elder , who states in the Natural History : Latin : phoenicopteri linguam praecipui saporis esse apicius docuit, nepotum omnium altissimus gurges [Translated:] Apicius , that very deepest whirlpool of all our epicures , has informed us that the tongue of

1287-511: The north-central part of Namibia, this drainage basin stretches across four regions, namely Ohangwena , Omusati , Oshana and Oshikoto . The basin is further divided into four sub-basins, namely Olushandja , Lishana, Nipele and Tsumeb. There is an estimated 1.2 million people that live in the basin with about 70% in Namibia and 30% in Angola. In Namibia, the basin covers around 5% of

1326-583: The phœnicopterus is of the most exquisite flavour. Although a few recipes for flamingos are found in Apicius' extant works, none refer specifically to flamingo tongues. The three flamingo recipes in the De re coquinaria ( On the Subject of Cooking ) involve the whole creature: Suetonius mentions flamingo tongues in his Life of Vitellius : Most notorious of all was the dinner given by his brother to celebrate

1365-530: The shortest flamingo species (the lesser) has a height of 2.6 feet (0.8 m) and weighs 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg). Flamingos can have a wingspan as small as 37 inches (94 cm) to as big as 59 inches (150 cm). Flamingos can open their bills by raising the upper jaw as well as by dropping the lower. Flamingos are omnivores who filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae as well as insect larvae, small insects, mollusks and crustaceans. Their bills are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from

1404-457: The surface. Etosha, meaning 'Great White Place' in Oshindonga , is made of a large mineral pan. The area exhibits a characteristic white and greenish surface, which spreads over 4,800 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi). The pan is believed to have developed through tectonic plate activity over about ten million years. Around 16,000 years ago, when ice sheets were melting across

1443-510: The voices of different species of flamingos. Flamingos are very social birds; they live in colonies whose population can number in the thousands. These large colonies are believed to serve three purposes for the flamingos: avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and using scarce suitable nesting sites more efficiently. Before breeding, flamingo colonies split into breeding groups of about 15 to 50 birds. Both males and females in these groups perform synchronized ritual displays. The members of

1482-623: The way. In the colonial era, the first non-Africans to explore this area were the Europeans Charles John Andersson and Francis Galton in 1851. The surrounding area is dense mopane woodland which is occupied by herds of elephants on the south side of the lake. Mopane trees are common throughout south-central Africa, and host the mopane worm, which is the larval form of the moth Gonimbrasia belina , and an important source of protein for rural communities. The salt desert supports very little plant life except for

1521-458: Was published in 2022. Lesser flamingo ( Phoeniconaias minor ) Andean flamingo ( Phoenicoparrus andinus ) James's flamingo ( Phoenicoparrus jamesi ) Chilean flamingo ( Phoenicopterus chilensis ) Greater flamingo ( Phoenicopterus roseus ) American flamingo ( Phoenicopterus ruber ) Six extant flamingo species are recognized by most sources, and were formerly placed in one genus (have common characteristics) – Phoenicopterus . As

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