Conservation and Management

Species of Least Concern (308 BirdLife International (2019). Phoenicopterus roseus (amended version of 2018 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T22697360A155527405. Close ). Previously considered Least Concern (2004–2018) and Not Recognized (1998–2000) (308 BirdLife International (2019). Phoenicopterus roseus (amended version of 2018 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T22697360A155527405. Close ). See Demography and Populations for details on population status and trends.

In Afghanistan, Greater Flamingo was given a culturally motivated level of protection because of the association of the pink color of its plumage to the blood of Imam Husayn (310 Ostrowski, S., A. M. Rajabi, and H. Noori (2008). Birds and Mammals in Dasht-e Nawar, Afghanistan: Occurrence and Hunting Pressure, 2007 Surveys. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York. Close ).

Habitat Loss and Degradation

Drainage and conversion of wetlands for agricultural development and other purposes has occurred throughout southern Europe, northwestern Africa, and Asia. Mediterranean wetlands have lost half of their surface area through the 1900s (311 Perennou, C., C. Beltrame, A. Guelmami, P. Tomas Vives, and P. Caessteker (2012). Existing areas and past changes of wetland extent in the Mediterranean region: an overview. Ecologia Mediterranea 38:53–66. Close ). In Sardinia and Sicily (Italy), natural and seminatural areas surrounding wetlands used by Greater Flamingo had a mean decline of 17 ha/year (n = 22) and 62 ha/year (n = 16), respectively (312 Ferrarini, A., M. Gustin, and C. Celada (2021). Twenty-three years of land-use changes induced considerable threats to the main wetlands of Sardinia and Sicily (Italy) along the Mediterranean Bird Flyways. Diversity 13:240. Close ), between 1990–2012. Along the Mediterranean coast, numerous brackish wetlands have been transformed into saltworks, and 45% of Greater Flamingo breeding sites in this region and in western Africa are located in these man-made habitats (262 Béchet, A., M. Rendón-Martos, M. A. Rendón, J. A. Amat, A. R. Johnson, and M. Gauthier-Clerc (2011). Global economy interacts with climate change to jeopardize species conservation: the case of the Greater Flamingo in the Mediterranean and West Africa. Environmental Conservation 39(1):1–3. Close ).

Wetlands have been degraded in other ways as well, including through the construction of dams, diversions of surface flows, and groundwater extraction in the basins that feed wetlands, with a consequent decrease in their surface area. At Lake Urmia (Iran), a hypersaline wetland used by Greater Flamingo, the water surface area has shrunk from 6,000 km² to 900 km² between 1973 and 2013 as a result of water extraction (313 Ahmadi, A., M. Abbaspour, R. Arjmandi, and Z. Abedi (2016). Resilient approach toward urban development in lake catchements; case of Lake Urmia. Scientia Iranica Transactions A: Civil Engineering 23(4):1627–1632. Close ). The only breeding site in Morocco disappeared after the construction of a dam in Iriki in the 1970s (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ). In eastern African lakes, soda ash production is causing degradation. For example, in Lake Abijata (Ethiopia), water extraction for soda ash production has contributed to the 60% decrease in lake surface area, increased salinity and alkalinity, and change in the composition of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities (314 Wagaw, S., S. Mengistou, and A. Getahun (2019). Review of anthropogenic threats and biodiversity assessment of an Ethiopian soda lake, Lake Abijata. African Journal of Aquatic Science 44(2):103–111. Close ).

Climate change and its correlates may also affect the future distribution of this species. Reduced rainfall predicted for southern Africa could impact breeding opportunities (315 Simmons, R. E., P. E. Barnard, W. R. J. Dean, G. F. Midgley, W. Thuiller, and G. Hughes (2004). Climate change and birds: perspectives and prospects from southern Africa. Ostrich 75:295–308. Close ), while sea level rise in the Mediterranean may result in flooding of breeding sites (262 Béchet, A., M. Rendón-Martos, M. A. Rendón, J. A. Amat, A. R. Johnson, and M. Gauthier-Clerc (2011). Global economy interacts with climate change to jeopardize species conservation: the case of the Greater Flamingo in the Mediterranean and West Africa. Environmental Conservation 39(1):1–3. Close ).

Climatic suitability models based off of geographic distribution data obtained from citizen science and climate variables were used to investigate the effects of climate change on habitat availability across all flamingo species (316 Delfino, H. C. (2023). A fragile future for pink birds: habitat suitability models predict a high impact of climate change on the future distribution of flamingos. Emu - Austral Ornithology. DOI: 10.1080/01584197.2023.2257757 Close ). These models showed that all flamingo species would suffer continued habitat loss until 2080, except for the Greater Flamingo. The occupied area of Greater Flamingo would increase by 4.01%; largely due to an increase in Central Asia, concomitant with a decrease or near-disappearance of the species in the Mediterranean region, East Africa, and India (316 Delfino, H. C. (2023). A fragile future for pink birds: habitat suitability models predict a high impact of climate change on the future distribution of flamingos. Emu - Austral Ornithology. DOI: 10.1080/01584197.2023.2257757 Close ).

Effects of Invasive Species

The spread of water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) at Basai wetland and at the Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary (India) has reduced available habitat for Greater Flamingo (317 Kumar, A., and S. Rana (2021). Population and conservation threats to the Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus (Aves: Phoenicopteriformes: Phoenicopteridae) at Basai Wetland and Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Haryana, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(7):18894–18898. Close ).

Hunting and Trapping

Greater Flamingo has been hunted by humans for many thousands of years. In a sample of 1,137 birds from a site in Çatalhöyük (Türkiye) from the Neolithic Period (7100–6000 calBC), Greater Flamingo bones were noted (318 Russell, N. (2019). Feathers and talons: birds at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11:6393–6410. Close ). In the 1800s and first half of the 1900s, local people from Spain and France gathered eggs from colonies (319 Lyttleton, T. (1880). On the breeding of the Flamingo in southern Spain. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 48:446–450. Close , 320 Chapman, A., and W. J. Buck (1910). Unexplored Spain. Edward Arnold, London, UK. Close , 16 Ogilvie, M., and C. Ogilvie (1986). Flamingos. Alan Sutton, Gloucester, UK. Close ).

More recently, flamingos are still hunted and trapped across its distribution. At Al-Jabboul Lake (Syria), birds were shot by hunters, and adults and chicks were trapped with staked-noose lines to be sold as pets (321 Hamidan, N., L. El-Moghrabi, E. Al-Ibraheem, Y. Mujawer, and A. Al-Mawas (2011). Population size, daily movements and nesting of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus at the Sabkhat Al-Jabboul Lake close to Aleppo, Syria. Flamingo 18:28–32. Close ). In Ebro Delta Natural Park (Spain), 16 individuals were illegally killed by shooting (322 Mateo, R., J. C. Dolz, J. M. Aguilar Serrano, J. Belliure, and R. Guitart (1997). An epizootic of lead poisoning in Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) in Spain. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 33:131–134. Close ), and in Greece 16 birds were shot (323 Vezyrakis, A., V. Bontzorlos, G. Rallis, and M. Ganoti (2023). Two decades of wildlife rehabilitation in Greece: Major threats, admission trends and treatment outcomes from a prominent rehabilitation centre. Journal for Nature Conservation 73(5):126372. Close ). In Ranobe (Madagascar), a multiple-use protected area, most species of vertebrates are consumed by humans, including Greater Flamingo (324 Gardner, C. J., and Z. G. Davies (2014). Rural bushmeat consumption within multiple-use protected areas: qualitative evidence from southwest Madagascar. Human Ecology 42:21–34. Close ). At Garaet Tarf (Algeria), poachers ran down flightless molting birds and captured them when exhausted (83 Samraoui, B., A. Ouldjaoui, M. Boulkhssaïm, M. Houhamdi, M. Saheb, and A. Béchet (2006). The first recorded reproduction of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus in Algeria: behavioural and ecological aspects. Ostrich 77:153–159. Close ). Large numbers of flamingos were also exported from Kenya under license, probably to zoos, in the early 1970s (325 Cooper, J. E. (1975). Capture in Kenia. In Flamingos (J. Kear and N. Duplaix-Hall, Editors), T & A D Poyser, Berkhamsted. pp. 106–108. Close ).

Pesticides and Other Contaminants/Toxics

Pesticides

Organochlorine residues were found in 53 eggs from the marshes of the Guadalquivir (Spain); mean levels in eggs of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were 701 ng/g, while mean levels of DDE were 1,503 ng/g (326 Guitart, R., R. Clavero, R. Mateo, and M. Máñez (2005). Levels of persistent organochloride residues in eggs of Greater Flamingos from the Guadalquivir marshes (Doñana), Spain. Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part B 40:753–760. Close ). Organochlorine residues were found in the livers of 65 Greater Flamingo from three wetlands of eastern Spain (El Hondo, the Santa Pola saltworks, and the Ebro delta), with higher levels of DDE (758 ng/g ± 1,561 SE, range 11.5–10,268.0) than other compounds (327 Gutiérrez, J. M., R. Mateo, C. Prats, and R. Guitart (1997). Organochlorine residues in normal and lead poisoned Greater Flamingos: Relationship with the fatty acid composition. Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A 32:853-863. Close ).

Flamingos can be exposed to a wide range of micropollutants at an early age. In chicks (n = 50) from the Ebro delta (Spain) examined in 2019, perfluoroalkyl substances were detected in all samples (328 Dulsat-Masvidal, M., A. Bertolero, R. Mateo, and S. Lacorte (2023). Legacy and emerging contaminants in flamingos' chicks’ blood from the Ebro Delta Natural Park. Chemosphere 312(1):137205 Close ).

Trace Elements

There is a high prevalence of lead pellet exposure in some Mediterranean wetlands. A study in several Spanish wetlands recorded a high abundance of lead shot pellets in 0–20 cm deep sediment. In rice fields near the Albufera de Valencia, the density of lead shot was 1,876,000 lead shot pellets/ha, while in Tablas de Daimiel National Park the density of lead shot was 994,000 shot/ha (329 Mateo, R., J. Belliure, J. Dolz, J. M. Aguilar Serrano, and R. Guitart (1998). High prevalences of lead poisoning in wintering waterfowl in Spain. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 35:342–347. Close ). Lead poisoning by ingestion of lead shot has been documented in Spain and in other Mediterranean countries. In three wetlands in eastern Spain (El Hondo, the Santa Pola saltworks, and the Ebro delta) 52 of 65 individuals had lead poisoning, which affected relative proportions of different fatty acids. Several fatalities as a consequence of lead poisoning have also been reported in southern Europe, such as Doñana (41 Ramo, C., C. Sánchez, and L. Hernández Saint-Aubin (1992). Lead poisoning in Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber. Wildfowl 43:220–222. Close ) and Alicante Province (Spain) (322 Mateo, R., J. C. Dolz, J. M. Aguilar Serrano, J. Belliure, and R. Guitart (1997). An epizootic of lead poisoning in Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) in Spain. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 33:131–134. Close ), as well as in several Italian wetlands (330 Ancora, S., N. Bianchi, C. Leonzio, and A. Renzoni (2008). Heavy metals in flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) from Italian wetlands: the problem of ingestion of lead shot. Environmental Research 107:229–236. Close ), in the region of Marseille (France) (331 Bayle, P., F. Dermain, and G. Keck (1986). Trois cas de saturnisme chez le Flamant Rose Phoenicopterus ruber dans la region de Marseille. Bulletin de la Societé Linnéenne de Provence 38:95–98. Close ), and in Cyprus (332 Miltiadou, M. (2005). Breeding attempts and lead poisoning of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus on the salt lakes of Cyprus. Flamingo 13:31–35. Close ).

Levels of heavy metals in Greater Flamingo vary between sites. In a sample of Greater Flamingo found dead in Pétrola Lake (n = 12; Spain), concentrations of Zinc, Copper, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury were low (333 Valiente, N., A. Pangerl, J. J. Gómez-Alday, and F. Jirsa (2022). Heavy Metals in Sediments and Greater Flamingo Tissues from a Protected Saline Wetland in Central Spain. Applied Sciences 12:5769. Close ). Higher concentrations of Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), and Selenium (Se) were found in the feathers of adults compared to chicks in the Camargue (France), though concentrations of Zinc (Zn) were higher in chicks than in adults (334 Amiard-Triquet, C., D. Pain, and H. T. Delves (1991). Exposure to trace elements of flamingos living in a biosphere reserve, the Camargue (France). Environmental Pollution 69(2-3):193–201. Close ). Bioaccumulation of some trace elements, like Cu, Se, Pb, Arsenic (As), and Zn, may alter the gut microbiome in chicks (335 Gillingham, M. A. F., F. Borghesi, B. K. Montero, F. Migani, A. Béchet, M. Rendón-Martos, J. A. Amat, E. Dinelli, and S. Sommer (2021). Bioaccumulation of trace elements affects chick body condition and gut microbiome in greater flamingos. Science of the Total Environment 761:143250 Close ).

Collisions with Stationary/Moving Structures or Objects

In Gujarat State, India, between 2002–2005, 39 Greater Flamingo were killed by collision with power lines, while three were killed after collisions with telephone lines (336 Tere, A., and B. M. Parasharya (2011). Flamingo mortality due to collision with high tension electric wires in Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 3(11):2192–2201. Close ). In the Khadir region of Kachchh (Gujarat, India), ca. 400 were killed in 2011 by collision with power lines, while four were killed in 2016 in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India (337 Kurhade, S. (2017). Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus mortality due to electrocution, in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India. Indian Birds 12(6):173–174. Close ). In Kazakhstan, 3 Greater Flamingos were killed by collision with power lines in 2021 (338 Pestov, M. V., T. Ditench, Z. E. Nurmukhambetov, N. K. Ongarbayev, A. I. Matsyna, and D. A. Denisov (2021). Loss of the Bird Diverter Efficiency at a Medium Voltage Overhead Power Line-Example of the Aktobe Region (Republic of Kazakhstan). Raptors Conservation 43:11–18. Close ). In Albacete Province (Spain), between 2011 and 2013, 35 collisions with power lines were recorded, of which 20 resulted in fatalities and 15 resulted in broken wings (339 Picazo Talavera, J. (2014). Datos sobre colisiones de flamencos comunes (Phoenicopterus roseus), con tendidos eléctricos en la provincia de Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha, España). Sabuco. Revista de Estudios Albacetenses 10:95–109. Close ). A Greater Flamingo was killed by a wind turbine in South Africa (out of 848 individuals) (340 Perold, V., S. Ralston-Paton, and P. Ryan (2020). On a collision course? The large diversity of birds killed by wind turbines in South Africa. Ostrich 91:228–239. Close ). One Greater Flamingo (out of 89 birds of several species) was found dead beside a bridge of a railway crossing the Sado Estuary, Portugal (341 Godinho, C., J. T. Marques, P. Salgueiro, L. Catarino, C. Osório de Castro, A. Mira and P. Beja (2017). Bird Collisions in a Railway Crossing a Wetland of International Importance (Sado Estuary, Portugal). In Rail Ecology (L. Borda-de-Água, R. Barrientos, P. Beja, and H. M. Pereira, Editors), Springer, Cham, Switzerland. pp. 103–115. Close ).

In Europe, 12,528 aviation-wildlife strikes were recorded during March 2017 to February 2021, including two Greater Flamingo strikes (342 Metz, I. C., M. Giordano, D. Ntampakis, M. Moira, A. Hamann, R. Blijleven, J. J. Ebert, and A. Montemaggiori (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on Aviation-Wildlife Strikes Across Europe. Human–Wildlife Interactions 16(3):442–459. Close ).

Human/Research Impacts

Human disturbance is a cause of incubation and chick abandonment, leading to mass mortality in colonies. In the Camargue (France), colony abandonment was observed in 1981 when two persons entered the breeding site, and again in 1987 when a balloon fell in the colony (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ). Disturbance by low-flying aircraft has been reported in eastern African lakes (213 Brown, L. H., D. Powell-Cotton, and J. B. D. Hopcraft (1973). The breeding of the Greater Flamingo and Great White Pelican in East Africa. Ibis 115:352-374. Close ) and caused the abandonment of the nesting colony in the Ebro delta (Spain) in 1992 (343 Luke, A. (1992). Spanish pilots force flamingos to flee. New Scientist 1837. Close ). This type of disturbance was also observed in the Camargue between the 1940s and 1970s (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ).

The conversion of wetlands into rice fields in the 1950s in the Camargue has provoked conflict with farmers since 1978, when Greater Flamingo started using the rice fields as foraging areas, causing crop damage (344 Ernoul, L., F. Mesléard, P. Gaubert, and A. Béchet (2014). Limits to agri-environmental schemes uptake to mitigate human–wildlife conflict: lessons learned from Flamingos in the Camargue, southern France. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 12(1):23–36. Close ). This conflict has extended to rice crops in the Ebro Delta (Spain) since 1993 (132 Tourenq, C., S. Aulagnier, L. Durieux, S. Lek, F. Mesléard, A. Johnson, and J. L. Martin (2001). Identifying rice fields at risk from damage by the greater flamingo. Journal of Applied Ecology 38:170–179. Close ). However, the effects of the conflict with rice farmers on flamingos are not known.

For undisturbed Greater Flamingo wintering at the saltworks in Eilat (Israel), no relationship between individual distance (26.7 m ± 6.7 SE) and flock size (38.3 ± 15.3 SE) was observed. When cars stopped and the occupants got out of the vehicles, however, the individual distance was reduced (5.1 m ± 3.2 SE), and small flocks had shorter individual distances (37.9 m ± 3.8 SE) than large flocks (39.6 m ± 9.0 SE). When disturbed by all-terrain vehicles, the interindividual distance decreased to 2.27 m ± 1.1 SE, with birds flocking together in the middle of the pan. Average individual distance within flocks could be an indicator of the perception of threats (345 Yosef, R. (2000). Individual distances among Greater Flamingos as indicators of tourism pressure. Waterbirds 23(Special Publication 1):26–31. Close ). At Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary (India), fishing activities disturbed Greater Flamingo (317 Kumar, A., and S. Rana (2021). Population and conservation threats to the Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus (Aves: Phoenicopteriformes: Phoenicopteridae) at Basai Wetland and Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Haryana, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(7):18894–18898. Close ).

Conservation Measures and Habitat Management

Most Greater Flamingo nesting and foraging wetlands are now protected, although in some regions of its range it faces a variety of threats (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ). Surveillance of nesting colonies in protected areas by guards is important to prevent hunting, egg theft, capture of nestlings, and disturbance (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ).

In terms of predator control, in the Camargue (France), when an excessive number of Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) threatened the survival of the Greater Flamingo colony, a gull-culling program was initiated in the early 1960s and continued until the early 1980s, but later abandoned (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ).

Various measures have been proposed and adopted to address environmental threats to flamingos. In the Camargue and Fuente de Piedra Lake (Spain), actions were take to prevent the erosion of the nesting islets, while also attracting nesting pairs to nests constructed by humans that were similar to natural ones (346 Rendón-Martos, M., and A. R. Johnson (1996). Management of nesting sites for Greater Flamingos. Colonial Waterbirds 19(Special Publication 1):167–183. Close ). The desiccation of breeding wetlands before the chicks are able to fly may result in mass mortality events. In an attempt to counteract this natural phenomenon, chicks were captured in wetlands in eastern and southern Africa and transferred to other wetlands to increase their chances of survival (10 Johnson, A. R., and F. Cézilly (2007). The Greater Flamingo. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK Close ). A study of chick translocation was carried out in Namibia; in April 1994, 144 chicks that ranged in age from 2 weeks to 2 months were taken from Etosha Pan, Namibia, following the desiccation of the wetland. The chicks were hand-reared until they were released 7 weeks later at Walvis Bay (Namibia), the main wintering site of the breeding population at Etosha Pan (347 Fox V. E., P. M. Lindeque, R. E. Simmons, H. H. Berry, C. Brain, and R. Braby (1997). Flamingo 'rescue' in Etosha National Park, 1994: technical, conservation and economic considerations. Ostrich 68:72-76 Close ). In the Guadalquivir marshes (Spain), chicks were led to the nearest flooded site by guards on horseback after cutting a path through the vegetation (220 Máñez, M. (1991). Sobre la reproducción del Flamenco (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus Pallas) en las Marismas del Guadalquivir (SW de España) con especial referencia al año 1988. In Reunión técnica sobre la situación y problemática del Flamenco rosa Phoenicopterus ruber roseus en el Mediterráneo Occidental y Africa Noroccidental. Junta de Andalucía, Sevilla. pp. 111–117. Close ). In the Fuente de Piedra Lake, water was pumped into the dry lake to flood 5–6 ha around the breeding site, where the chicks remained until fledging (346 Rendón-Martos, M., and A. R. Johnson (1996). Management of nesting sites for Greater Flamingos. Colonial Waterbirds 19(Special Publication 1):167–183. Close ).

A study in the Camargue showed that flamingos avoided using rice fields with hedges (145 Tourenq, C., R. E. Bennetts, H. Kowalski, E. Vailet, J. L. Lucchesi, Y. Kayser, and P. Isenmann (2001). Are rice-fields a good alternative to natural marshes for waterbird communities in the Camargue, southern France? Biological Conservation 100:335–343. Close ). Hedgerow restoration in rice fields has been recommended to reduce the presence of foraging Greater Flamingo and thus reduce conflicts with farmers (132 Tourenq, C., S. Aulagnier, L. Durieux, S. Lek, F. Mesléard, A. Johnson, and J. L. Martin (2001). Identifying rice fields at risk from damage by the greater flamingo. Journal of Applied Ecology 38:170–179. Close ). In the Ebro Delta Natural Park (Spain), nocturnal visits by flamingos to rice fields were discouraged using lights and flares (265 Curcó, A., F. Vidal, and J. Piccardo (2009). Conservation and management of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus at the Ebre delta. Flamingo, Special Publication 1:37–43. Close ).

Effectiveness of Measures

There is little information on the effect of chick relocations on population demography. Survival rates of chicks translocated to Walvis Bay Lagoon (Namibia) appeared to be low; of 77 banded chicks released, only 5 individuals were seen again 930–960 d later at a distance of 5–700 km from the release point (347 Fox V. E., P. M. Lindeque, R. E. Simmons, H. H. Berry, C. Brain, and R. Braby (1997). Flamingo 'rescue' in Etosha National Park, 1994: technical, conservation and economic considerations. Ostrich 68:72-76 Close ).

In the Camargue, 5-10% of the 700 decoy nests erected in 1973-1974 were used as nests in 1974 (346 Rendón-Martos, M., and A. R. Johnson (1996). Management of nesting sites for Greater Flamingos. Colonial Waterbirds 19(Special Publication 1):167–183. Close ).

In the Guadalquivir marshes (Spain), 1,500 chicks fledged in 1977, 2,500 in 1978, and 3,500-3,800 chicks in 1984. Every year, the chicks had been moved from the colony site to the nearest flooded site by people on horseback, sometimes through corridors previously made across emergent vegetation (220 Máñez, M. (1991). Sobre la reproducción del Flamenco (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus Pallas) en las Marismas del Guadalquivir (SW de España) con especial referencia al año 1988. In Reunión técnica sobre la situación y problemática del Flamenco rosa Phoenicopterus ruber roseus en el Mediterráneo Occidental y Africa Noroccidental. Junta de Andalucía, Sevilla. pp. 111–117. Close ). Between 1984 and 2021, flamingos nested in the Fuente de Piedra Lake in 29 years; in 22 of these years the lake dried up during the breeding season and water was pumped in to protect the chicks from terrestrial predators and high ambient temperatures; this management action allowed 146,267 birds to fledge, representing 64.4% of all chicks hatched in the period 1984–2021 (M.R-M, unpublished data). As there was no single year in which such actions were not undertaken when the lake dried up, it is not possible to estimate how effective these measures were for fledging success.

In Cyprus, the removal of sand with lead shot from a salt-lake significantly reduced the numbers of deaths due to lead poisoning (332 Miltiadou, M. (2005). Breeding attempts and lead poisoning of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus on the salt lakes of Cyprus. Flamingo 13:31–35. Close ).