Phoenicopterus ruber
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an American Flamingo sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 3,079 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an American Flamingo in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against about 20% in February–April and June–December, the lowest months. Those are among Galápagos Islands's wettest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against almost none in August.
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.
6th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate American Flamingo sightings, Galápagos Islands ranks 6th at about 20%. The best odds are in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 70%), Celestún Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 70%) and Caroni Swamp (Trinidad and Tobago, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Flamingo is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (3,079 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
