Chillean Flamingo

Description:

All flamingos eat by sweeping their heads side to side, close to the water’s surface to obtain their food. The slits on the top bill and the comb-like structures lining the bill, called lamellae, are used to filter organisms out from the water and mud. The bill is turned upside-down in the water. The water and algae are pumped in by a piston-like tongue, and then the tongue expels the water, capturing the algae and phytoplankton in the lamellae. It is not unusual to find 50-year-old Chilean flamingos in the wild. In captivity, most have an average life span around 40 years. The oldest flamingo in captivity lived to be around 44 years

Habitat:

Flamingo wild life habitat.