Scientists have found Lesser Flamingos ( Phoeniconaias minor ) in Kenya are malnourished and dying from starvation. The researchers, supported by the Earthwatch Institute, discovered that flamingos found dead weighed only 63 percent of their normal body weight.
Recent large-scale mortality events have killed thousands of Lesser Flamingos in Kenya over the last year, and over half a million during the 1990s. Analysis of lake water confirmed a low level of spirulina, a blue-green bacteria that is the primary food source for the flamingos. The low nutrients were leaving the flamingos with less than 10 percent of their minimum daily food requirements.
Dr. David Harper of University of Leicester, principal investigator of Earthwatch's Flamingos of the Rift Valley project, said in an Earthwatch release, "Based on these findings, it appears that starvation needs to be included in the possible causes of flamingo mortality."
Harper also noted that most of the flamingos are a paler shade of pink, indicating they are in poor condition for breeding. Flamingos get their bright pink coloration from the alpha and beta-carotene in their normal diet. The researchers found less than 100 intensely pink flamingos out of 15,000.
The hungry birds, which normally feed together on the shoreline, have started dispersing and feeding in open water, including rain puddles and even on roads. Their behavioral change to seek food make them vulnerable to other causes of mortality.
Veterinarian Lindsay Oakes, from Washington State University, indicated the birds were clearly looking for an emergency food supply by putting themselves at risk of predation.
Harper added, "In seven years of working at Lake Bogoria [in Kenya], I have never seen Lesser Flamingos feeding from streams and puddles."
The hard times for the flamingos are thought to be caused by heavy rains. The rainfall has brought excess water and high sediment concentrations into the lake that diluted the flamingo's food supply.
Lesser Flamingos are shorter and have more black coloration of the bills compared to the related Greater Flamingos. Harper and Oaks are part of Earthwatch's Flamingos of the Rift Valley project.
Source: Earthwatch Institute
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