Ebro Delta Flamingo Lagoons
Riet Vell Reserve, Ebro Delta, Catalonia, Spain · Europe · wetland_coast
About this place
Study Phoenicopterus roseus lamellar filter-feeding, carotenoid pigmentation, and agro-ecological rice-lagoon hydrology.
For kids: Wade into sunny Spanish lagoons where pink flamingos eat upside-down with built-in strainer beaks!
Ebro Delta Flamingo Lagoons · 360° Habitat Camp
What to look for
- Brine-shrimp salt pan — Phoenicopterus roseus filter-feeding ring. Locate the hypersaline shallow pan where flamingos trample circular feeding troughs
- Phragmites heron & ibis island — Plegadis falcinellus mixed colony. Centre the emergent Phragmites island sheltering colonial herons and glossy ibises
- Organic rice-paddy flyway mosaic — Western Mediterranean Flyway stopover. Scan the flooded organic paddy-lagoon interface buffering deltaic salinity
Source: Amat et al. (2005), Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology & Jenkin (1957) — Phoenicopterus roseus lamellar filter mechanics and cosmetic carotenoid preen-oil signaling.
Ask together: Flamingo chicks hatch snowy grey-white! What would happen to a flamingo's pink feathers if it switched to eating plain white rice?
Field quiz
Kids' question: Where do greater flamingos get their bright rosy-pink feather colour?
- Natural red-orange pigments inside the tiny brine shrimp and algae they eat
- Sunburn from standing in Spanish sunshine
- Rolling in crushed strawberry petals
Answer
Natural red-orange pigments inside the tiny brine shrimp and algae they eat
Adults' question: How did Amat et al. (2005) show that greater flamingos actively enhance plumage colour prior to pair formation?
- Rubbing carotenoid-enriched uropygial preen oil onto neck and breast feathers as avian 'cosmetics'
- Secreting copper porphyrin pigments straight from sweat glands
- Shedding outer barbules to expose pink hollow feather shafts
- Basking in iron-oxide mud springs every full moon
Answer
Rubbing carotenoid-enriched uropygial preen oil onto neck and breast feathers as avian 'cosmetics'
360° photo: Greg Zaal, CC0
See it live: Live check: Ebro Delta Flamingo, Ibis & Tern Lagoon Cam
- By day
- Greater flamingos, glossy ibises, purple swamphens, stilts & gull-billed terns Managed by SEO/BirdLife, Riet Vell demonstrates reconciled agro-ecology uniting organic rice cultivation with colonial waterbird islands.
- By night
- Wading flamingos, black-crowned night herons & Mediterranean marsh frogs Tactile filter feeding allows Phoenicopterus roseus to forage heavily at night when brine shrimp migrate into cooler surface water.
Other language: Русский