Present for approximately one week, an unbanded adult and an immature, ABA Code-3, American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) are present at Pass A Loutre WMA (easternmost of the three main passes at the Mississippi River mouth) in the lower Plaquemines Parish. The location is 2.75 miles southeast of Pilottown (29.14559 N, 89.23515 W) and only accessible by boat (boat captains in Venice).
Flamingos are in their own family, the Phoenicopteridae. All flamingos possess a remarkable bill feature, lamellae and feed in a manner similar to the baleen whales. Between two mandibles, a tongue functions like a piston, pumping water through the lamellae. Backward facing bristles move food items backwards to the throat while the tongue expels water back out through the mouth.
All species of adult flamingo are pink. The pink coloration comes from carotenoid pigments synthesized by algae or the organisms which feed on algae. The carotenoids are converted by enzymes into usable pigments, canthaxanthin, found in the feathers and in bare skin areas. With their long necks, flamingo cervical vertebrae are elongated (only 17 in flamingos compared with 25 in swans), giving flamingo necks an unusual stepped appearance when bent. The reduced feathering on flamingos’ tibia allow them to wade virtually up to their bellies (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 1).
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