IT ISN’T difficult to identify flamingos. Their legs and necks are considerably larger than any similar sized water birds, such as herons or cranes. This is especially obvious in flight, when they have been likened to flying sticks. Their pinkish colour is often cited as an identification aid, but they are not necessarily always as pink as we have been led to believe. The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) which breeds in Europe and is probably Cyprus’ best known wintering visitor is grey-brown as a juvenile. As it gets older, this turns to a dirty white until as a fully mature bird it obtains the pinkish hue that we all expect. It is only really the wing coverts that are a striking pink – almost crimson – and contrast with the black flight feathers.
A flamingo’s feathers obtain their rosy-pink tinge due to the coloured materials – carotenoids – in the tiny shrimps and algae on which they feed. This pigment colours their bare skin parts as well as their feathers. The absence of food with such pigments will cause the pink tinge to fade and their feathers to turn pale. For this reason, flamingos kept in captivity are fed special food containing these natural pigments.
Flamingos are ‘filter’ feeders. They feed by placing their bill in the water upside down between their legs. They then walk backwards, stirring up the bottom of the lake and a mixture of sand and plankton is collected in their bill. This ‘soup’ is strained with the aid of their fleshy tongue and they swallow the edible material. Some years, the pools in which they feed will be teeming with life and so they have plenty of food on which to feed themselves and their young. In years when there is a shortage of food they do not breed. They will only do so if the conditions are just right.
Likewise, it is the condition of the Salt Lakes here in Cyprus that determines how many birds will over winter here and whether they will favour the Larnaca or the Akrotiri Salt Lake. The numbers of wintering birds, the composition of the flocks (as per number of adult and/or immature birds), the timing of their arrival or departure and the duration of their stay are all exclusively interwoven with the hydrology of these bodies of water. Some years, large flocks of over 10,000 individuals are present.
This winter, the flock at Akrotiri reached it maximum in November with around 2,000, with much smaller numbers at the Larnaca Salt Lake. It is possible that this winter’s smaller numbers are due to the mild conditions that have prevailed throughout Europe, meaning that the birds have not moved south in large numbers, as well as to the lack of water in the Salt Lakes. It could be assumed that a very high water level in the lakes would attract larger flocks. However, if the water is too deep this causes problems for those birds that get their food from the bottom of the lake like flamingos. So smaller numbers will be here during very rainy winters feeding around the shallow margins.
The ecology of our two Salt Lakes is different. Larnaca is a brine lake with a high salt content.
Flamingos here will feed on the brine shrimp Artemsia tunisiana. Akrotiri Salt Lake is more brackish with a lower salt content. Here the fairy shrimp Branchinella spinosa and other plankton suited by to conditions make up the diet of the visiting flamingos. Observations have shown that flamingos from Larnaca may visit Akrotiri overnight to obtain fresh drinking water.
There have recently been unsuccessful breeding attempts at both lakes. It appears that flocks of greater flamingos always contain a number of individuals that display and show a readiness to breed at almost any time of the year. This is so as to be able to take advantage of favourable water conditions as they occur and then likewise to abandon nests, eggs or young when conditions change for the worse – as appears to occur in Cyprus once the long, hot summer sets in.
The greater flamingos breed in brine, alkaline and brackish lakes across the Mediterranean, south-west Asia and Africa. It appears from ringing recoveries that the birds that winter in Cyprus come predominantly from two Turkish lakes and Iran. Occasionally, birds from France and Spain occur in small numbers. The sites used by our winter visitors are threatened by development of different kinds. Hopefully their recent designation as Natura 2000 sites will ensure that the correct programmes for the protection and monitoring of such important natural areas are implemented so that we can enjoy the sight of large flocks of these interesting visitors for many years to come.
n If you want to know more about Cyprus’ birds or are interested in joining BirdLife Cyprus please contact P.O. Box 28076, 2090 Nicosia, telephone 22-455072 or e-mail [email protected] On Sunday February 11, join BirdLife Cyprus at the Akrotiri Environmental Education and Information Centre to learn more about our visiting flamingos. Or join us at Oroklini Marsh, Larnaca for a walk on Sunday, February 18 to look at the birds wintering there. Call 99-059541 for details.
