flamingo, common name for a large pink or red wading bird, similar to the related heron, stork, and spoonbill but with a longer neck, webbed feet, and a unique down-bent bill. Flamingos are tropical birds, although large colonies have been observed high in the Andes. The American, or greater, flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber, is now rarely seen in Florida, nesting chiefly in the West Indies. Its plumage is vermilion with black-edged wings; a common S Asian and African flamingo is scarlet with black wing feathers. The flamingo scoops its large bill backward through shallow water in marshes and lagoons. When closed, the serrated edges of the bill strain from the muddy water the aquatic plants, shellfish, and frogs on which the bird feeds. The nest is a cone of mud 1 to 2 ft (30-61 cm) high and about 1 ft (30 cm) across with a depression on top. The mates take turns incubating the one or two eggs, sitting astride the nest with their legs folded flat on either side. Flamingos are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Ciconiiformes, family Phoenicopteridae.

Any of five species of tall wading birds constituting the family Phoenicopteridae. The plumage is mainly pink, and the face is bare. Flamingos have webbed feet, a slender body, a long thin neck, large wings, and a short tail. They are about 3–5 ft (90–150 cm) tall. Flamingos flock by the hundreds (sometimes by the millions) in flight formations and wading groups. They walk the shallows, stirring up organic matter, especially tiny mollusks and crustaceans, which they strain from the muddy water with their sievelike bills. The various species are found along Atlantic and Gulf coasts of tropical and subtropical North America and in South America, Africa, southern Europe, Asia, Madagascar, and India.

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