The Caribbean Flamingo (Scientific name : Phoenicopterus ruber), is the national bird of the island of Bonaire and is protected by conservation laws. Locally they are known as “Chogogo” in Papiamentu which is in reference to the nasal sound they produce.

They average on length between 120 cm and 145 cm, with a wingspan 140 to 165 cm and weigh between 2,1 and 4,1 kg. They are large wading birds with a reddish-pink plumage. Their wing coverts are red while their primary and secondary feathers are black. They have pink legs and feet, and their bill is pink and white with a black tip. One of the distinctive features of the Caribbean Flamingo, like the Greater Flamingo, is that it has the longest legs in comparison to its body out of any bird.

Interestingly enough these flamingos aren’t born with the pink colored feathers that we see them wearing. Instead they are born with white feathers, but they eat a diet rich in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments found in the algae and insects, which changes their feather’s color. Literally giving the saying you are what you eat a whole new color! Caribbean Flamingos have the brightest coloration out of all the Flamingo species and also funnily enough have little to no sense of smell.

When Flamingos feed, they put their heads underwater, and let their beaks hang upside down. They sieve mud with their tongue through a set of layers and the insects, small crustaceans and algae etc that they catch are then eaten. Their long necks and legs give them the ability to wade into deeper water to forage more effectively for food.

In Bonaire the flamingos breed from January to July and exclusively in the Pekelmeer Flamingo Sanctuary on the south of the island. The Pekelmeer (Salt Lake in Dutch) Flamingo Sanctuary is one of only a few places where Flamingos breed in the world. They produce but one egg! Which they lay in a raised nest of accumulated mud, both parents are involved in incubating the nest. The eggs hatch in roughly a month (28-32 days) and after an estimated 75 days the chicks fledge.

Flamingos are often seen standing on one leg, this is a form of thermoregulation, this is thought to be done as as a means of conserving body heat, curling a leg under the body warms the foot and works as a tool to conserve body heat. This is done in both warm and colder environments.

Bonaire has the largest Flamingo Sanctuary in the Western Hemisphere! Flamingos like to gather in groups and can be seen in a few places in Bonaire. Pekelmeer (the official sanctuary) on the salt flats in the South, in the north at lake Gotomeer and Washington Slagbaai Park, and in lesser number at Lac once again in the South.

When visiting Bonaire, Flamingo spotting should definitely be on the list, you can rent a car and drive out to any of the previously mentioned spots to try catch a glimpse of the island’s national bird, the Caribbean Flamingo!