CreatureData

Lesser flamingo

Phoeniconaias minor (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1798)

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) is a bird of the family Phoenicopteridae in the order Phoenicopteriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 1.5 kg (up to 1.93 kg) and a wingspan from 95 cm to 1 m.

Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Photo: taken by myself · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the lesser flamingo

This herbivore lives in wetland habitat, has a terrestrial lifestyle and is sedentary. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

Weight
1.5 kg – 1.93 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
95 cm – 1 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
47.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
50 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2.98 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the lesser flamingo?

LESSER FLAMINGO · WINGSPAN 1 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the lesser flamingo is about 59% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the lesser flamingo

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
Charles J Sharp · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the lesser flamingo live?

Not recorded

What is the lesser flamingo?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from farther north, but these are generally considered vagrants.

From the Wikipedia article “Lesser flamingo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lesser_flamingo&oldid=1379697935), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the lesser flamingo endangered?

The lesser flamingo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the lesser flamingo classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPhoenicopteriformes
  5. familyPhoenicopteridae
  6. genusPhoeniconaias
  7. SpeciesPhoeniconaias minor (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1798)

Synonyms Phoenicoparrus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor, Phoenicopterus minor minor, Phoenicopterus rubidus

Other names and names in other languages (63)
  • KleinflaminkAfrikaans
  • نحام قزمArabic
  • النحام الصغيرArabic
  • النحام القزمArabic
  • فلامنغو قزمArabic
  • نحام صغيرArabic
  • flamencu nanuAsturian
  • Kiçik qızılqazAzerbaijani
  • Малко фламингоBulgarian
  • Flammeg bihanBreton
  • flamenc nanCatalan
  • Flamenc menutCatalan
  • plameňák malýCzech
  • fflamingo bachWelsh
  • Lille FlamingoDanish
  • ZwergflamingoGerman
  • Αφρικανικό ΦοινικόπτεροGreek
  • eta flamengoEsperanto
  • Malgranda flamengoEsperanto
  • flamenco enanoSpanish
  • väikeflamingoEstonian
  • فلامینگوی کوچکPersian
  • pikkuflamingoFinnish
  • flamant nainFrench
  • Petit flamantFrench
  • Lasairéan beagIrish
  • פלמינגו זוטרHebrew
  • छोटा राजहंसHindi
  • Patuljasti plamenacCroatian
  • kis flamingóHungarian
  • DvergflæmingiIcelandic
  • Fenicottero minoreItalian
  • コフラミンゴJapanese
  • Кiшi қоқиқазKazakh
  • ಸಣ್ಣ ರಾಜಹಂಸKannada
  • 꼬마홍학Korean
  • mažasis flamingasLithuanian
  • mazais flamingoLatvian
  • SamákikelyMalagasy
  • ചെറിയ രാജഹംസംMalayalam
  • समुद्र राघूMarathi
  • Изи фламингоWestern Mari
  • kleine flamingoDutch
  • dvergflamingoNorwegian
  • ଛୋଟ ଏରାOdia
  • flaming małyPolish
  • نکا فلیمنگوWestern Panjabi
  • flamingo-pequenoPortuguese
  • Малый фламингоRussian
  • фламинго малыйRussian
  • UhcaflamingoNorthern Sami
  • plameniak menšíSlovak
  • mali plamenecSlovenian
  • Mali plamenacSerbian
  • mindre flamingoSwedish
  • தடும்ப நாரைTamil
  • அல்லது தடும்ப நாரைTamil
  • küçük flamingoTurkish
  • Пичи фламингоUdmurt
  • Фламінго малийUkrainian
  • Hồng hạc nhỏVietnamese
  • 小紅鸛Chinese
  • 小红鹳Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the lesser flamingo

Other species in the same family Phoenicopteridae.

CompareLesser flamingo vs Greater flamingoLesser flamingo vs American flamingoLesser flamingo vs Chilean flamingoLesser flamingo vs Andean flamingo

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the lesser flamingo?

The lesser flamingo is a bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, order Phoenicopteriformes.

How big is the lesser flamingo?

The lesser flamingo has an adult body mass of 1.5 kg, up to 1.93 kg. Its wingspan ranges from 95 cm to 1 m.

What does the lesser flamingo eat?

The lesser flamingo is a herbivore.

Is the lesser flamingo endangered?

No. The lesser flamingo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

How long does the lesser flamingo live?

The lesser flamingo has a lifespan of 47.5 years, with values up to 50 years reported.

How many eggs does the lesser flamingo lay?

The lesser flamingo lays 1 egg per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. Incubation lasts 28 days.

Does the lesser flamingo migrate?

No, the lesser flamingo is sedentary.

Who named the lesser flamingo?

The lesser flamingo was named Phoeniconaias minor by (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1798).

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/lesser-flamingo

MLA

“Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/lesser-flamingo.

BibTeX
@misc{lesser_flamingo_2026,
  title = {Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/lesser-flamingo},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}