Chordate Zoology - Textbook - J. V. Tsaryk - 2013

Chapter 5. SUPERCLASS TETRAPODS (TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES) TETRAPODA, seu QUADRIPEDA.

ANAMNIOTES (ANAMNIA) AND AMNIOTES (AMNIOTA)

5.3. CLASS BIRDS AVES

5.3.3. Taxonomy and characteristics of representatives of the main orders of the class Aves

5.3.3.2. Superorder Typical, or Neognathous Birds Neognathae

5.3.3.2.11. Order Flamingos Phoenicopteriformes

Members of the family Phoenicopteridae are large birds (weight 2.5–4.5 kg) with long necks and long legs, and a heavily bent long bill. The edges of the bill and Tongue feature horny lamellae that form a filtering apparatus. The forward-pointing toes are webbed. They feed in shallow Water by filtering water and mud to strain out invertebrates and Algae. They nest in colonies in shallow saline waters. Their nests are mounds of dried mud and shells up to 0.5 m high. The chicks hatch precocial (sighted and downy) and begin to fly at about two months of age. There are six species, distributed in the tropics and subtropics. A representative of the North American fauna is the American flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber (Fig. 5.45, 11).