Phoenicopterus ruber
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo native to the West Indies, northern South America (including the Galápagos Islands) and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is closely related to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo, and was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that treatment is now widely viewed (e.g. by the American and British Ornithologists' Unions) as incorrect due to a lack of evidence. It is also known as the Caribbean flamingo, although it is also present in the Galápagos Islands. It is the only flamingo that naturally inhabits North America.
It is a cultural icon for the U.S. state of Florida, where it was formerly abundant in the southernmost regions, although it was largely extirpated by 1900 and is now only an uncommon visitor with a few small, potentially resident populations.
The American flamingo was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Phoenicopterus ruber. Linnaeus cited earlier authors including the English naturalist Mark Catesby who in 1729–1731 had described and illustrated the flamingo... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 4 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 5 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | SeaWorld Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Busch Gardens Tampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | SeaWorld San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 8 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 9 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | SeaWorld Abu Dhabi | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 12 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Copenhagen Zoo | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 14 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 15 | Dresden Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 16 | Antwerp Zoo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 17 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 18 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 19 | Réserve africaine de Sigean | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 20 | Greensboro Science Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 22 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 23 | Abilene Zoological Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Zoo Schwerin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 25 | Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 26 | Vinpearl Safari | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 27 | Dalian forest zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 28 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Lion Country Safari | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Whipsnade Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 32 | Toronto Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 33 | Taipei Zoo | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 34 | Safari West | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Busch Gardens Williamsburg | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Shanghai Wild Animal Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 37 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Yumka' | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 40 | Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 41 | 长沙生态动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 42 | Zoológico de Brasília | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 43 | Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 44 | Higashiyama Zoo Main Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 45 | Higashiyama Zoo North Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 46 | Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 47 | Chiang Mai Night Safari | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 48 | Planète Sauvage | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 49 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 50 | Zoofari | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
No species of the same family or order lives in Maracaibo, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Flamingo sighting in Maracaibo on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 49th most-seen of the 89 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an American Flamingo in Maracaibo on a given day, against under 5% in January–April, June–July, September and November, the lowest months. That is one of Maracaibo's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 5 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Flamingo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 cities where we can rate American Flamingo sightings, Maracaibo ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in León (México, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Flamingo is recorded against all the birds logged in Maracaibo (23 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
