Lesser Flamingo
Learn more about this nomadic or partially migratory species
Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) are the only species studied in the Space for Birds project that are not seasonal migrators. Rather, individuals in the Rift Valley vs. Southern African populations exhibit various different movement patterns. The Rift Valley birds are nomadic, moving between lake wetlands along the border of Tanzania and Kenya. They will stay in one place as long as resources are available, but move when necessary due to changes in the environmental conditions of their wetland habitats because of weather or human developments. The southern African populations are partially migratory, flying between their inland breeding sites and coastal feeding grounds, but are still not subject to a pattern based on seasons like migratory birds usually are.
Prime habitat for Lesser Flamingos is salt pans or lakes with high alkalinity. They feed on cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) like Spirulina, which thrive in alkaline environments. Within that specific habitat type, these flamingos also have very selective breeding conditions. This is part of why they are listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), since there are often years between breeding seasons as they wait for high rainfall events. Successful natural breeding has been found in three locations: Etosha Pan in Namibia, Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana, and Lake Natron in Tanzania. In fact, up to 75% of the world's population of Lesser Flamingos are born at Lake Natron. However, the lake is not a protected site (SDG 15) and human development to access soda ash (SDG 12) may affect the survival of the Lesser Flamingo.
ID Guide for Lesser Flamingos
Range Tour
01 / 06
1
Lake Natron, Tanzania
The most important of the three breeding grounds for the Lesser Flamingo is surrounded by mountains. This lake's high alkalinity is deadly for most other wildlife, calcifying their bodies into statues, and giving it the nickname "the Medusa lake."
2
Lake Elementaita, Kenya
This lake is named after the Maasai word for "dust place," as the land is incredibly dry and lake is so shallow it can almost disappear in the dry season. This phenomenon has worsened as human activity has dried up surrounding water catchment areas, leading to desertification (SDG 15).
3
Lake Bogoria, Kenya
Along with Lake Elementaita above and Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria is a UNESCO Heritage Site due to its high diversity of bird life. Bogoria is also protected in a National Reserve and is a Ramsar wetland of international importance. These are very important designations to conserve the Lesser Flamingo's habitat (SDG 15).
4
Makgadikgadi National Park, Botswana
These salt pans are all that remain of ancient Lake Makgadikgadi, which was once larger in area than Switzerland! A portion of the pans are in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. The rest is used for soda ash extraction, which has damaged the fragile ecosystem (SDG 12).
5
Etosha Pan, Namibia
The Etosha Pan is a Ramsar wetland of international importance and is protected by a national park (SDG 15).
6
Walvis Bay/Sandwich Harbour, Namibia
Lesser Flamingos in Southern Africa spend time in non-breeding areas to feed. This bay has artificial salt works to refine salt for human use. It has the added benefit of doubling as increased habitat for birds (SDG 12)!
Habitat Context Map
Explore the pop-up photos below to visualize the Lesser Flamingo's habitat and diet in their East and Southern African range.
Hover your cursor over the cameras and click read more to learn about each photo!
Land Cover Change 1700-1990
Below is the IUCN range map for the Space for Birds project's Lesser Flamingo populations. As human society grew and changed, we altered the landscape of this continent, as illustrated in the land cover layer over time.
1700: The natural landscape of Southern and Eastern Africa is dominated by hot deserts, grasslands, scrublands, and savannas.
1900: Post-Industrial Revolution, cities are growing and agriculture has spread to cover larger areas of land with machines to help with farming. The demand for meat has led to an increase in pasture and grazing lands to 30%.
1990: By the end of the 20th century, over 50% of the Lesser Flamingo's habitat has been impacted by humans. While flamingos are specialists, focusing on alkaline wetlands, widespread land conversion has the potential to affect the delicate balance of water availability required for those wetlands to survive. Note the development around the three known breeding areas.
Lake Natron 1992-2018
Focusing back on Lake Natron, in the map below the average water level appears to have declined over time.
However, when Dr. Bondar saw this map she asked "was the data collected at the same time in both years?" Why might she think to ask that?
Dr. Bondar thought to consider the timing of data collection because Lake Natron water levels change naturally between the wet (November to May) and dry (June to October) seasons! So, if the map data was collected in May in 1992, but in October in 2018, that could explain the difference (rather than the depletion of water over multiple years).
The fluctuation in water and the presence of red-coloured cyanobacteria leads to Lake Natron's famous red waters! Cyanobacteria often grow in shallow water, so even if the lake water levels have decreased in the past 26 years the Flamingos will not run out of food. However, if more water is removed for human development this may cause issues in the future.
Red cyanobacteria blooms on Lake Natron as seen from the ISS. Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center
Hazard: Soda Ash Extraction
As mentioned previously, there is a risk to Lesser Flamingo habitat due to soda ash extraction and water removal. Soda ash (sodium carbonate) has many uses including manufacturing corn sweeteners for soft drinks and glass, cleaning the air, and household detergents. Soda ash can be found naturally or synthesized. Naturally occurring soda ash is found in deposits that can be mined or by dredging alkaline lakes like Lake Natron. Dredging can be sustainable given that saline springs replenish the salt in the lake. However, there are concerns that building and running infrastructure like buildings and machinery may disturb wildlife, and the removal of water for use in the dredging process could reduce the water available for natural cycles to occur (SDG 12).
From 2008 to 2018, there was a fight to stop a soda ash factory from being built at Lake Natron, with wildlife advocates concerned about the factory reducing the water availability and delicate alkaline balance that makes this lake the perfect habitat for Lesser Flamingos. Luckily, the importance of the birds in ecotourism was enough to stop the plan from moving forward and the “pink parade” of birds will continue. However, the lake is still not protected so it is important to keep an eye on new developments (SDG 12) proposed in the area to protect #SpaceforBirds.
