Some weeks ago, a flamingo made news by visiting the Salina salt pans and remaining there for several days. It left during the night after three weeks. Last week, another flamingo, which could be the same one, landed at the Għadira Nature Reserve and it seems it will be spending several days there.
The proper name of the species that visits the Maltese islands is the greater flamingo. It is known locally as fjamingu, although I think that most, if not all, Maltese refer to it as flamingo.
Sightings of flamingos on the islands have increased in frequency over the past few years. This is probably because flamingos can now be found in several wetlands around Sicily including at Vendicari, a nature reserve at the southeast corner of the island where they will hopefully soon start breeding.
Adult flamingos are pink, although their colour varies from one bird to the other and even over time as the colour depends on the bird’s diet and health. Young birds are greyish pink, becoming pink as they grow older. In Malta we see both pink adults and grey young birds. Whenever a young flamingo lands in Malta, many ask me why it is grey and not pink.
Flamingos can be found in a number of countries around the Mediterranean. They breed in large numbers in Spain and France. They also breed in Sardinia. Large numbers winter in wetlands around Tunisia and other North African countries.
Flamingos are most closely related to waterfowl. Six species exist: four in the Americas and two in the ‘Old World’, that is Afro-Eurasia. One of these two is found in Europe.
Apart from the pink plumage, flamingos are characterised by their very long legs and neck as well as by their hooked beaks.
Both characteristics are adaptations for life in shallow water. The legs allow the flamingos to wade in water without wetting their feathers and the long neck helps them reach for the water without bending their legs.
The beak is constructed in such a way to act as a sieve. It holds the brine shrimp and blue-green algae on which it feeds inside while allowing water, mud and silt to flow out.
As flamingos become better established in Sicily, we are bound to see more of them visiting the Maltese islands and, who knows, they might one day establish themselves here as well.
portelli.paul@gmail.com