Editing Lesser flamingo (section)

==Characteristics==
The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall and large bird by most standards. The species can weigh from {{convert|1.2|to|2.7|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/lesser-flamingo/phoeniconaias-minor/#text=Facts |title=Lesser flamingo - Phoeniconaias minor - ARKive |website=www.arkive.org |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514084648/http://www.arkive.org/lesser-flamingo/phoeniconaias-minor/#text=Facts |archive-date=14 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The standing height is around {{convert|80|to|90|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Seaworld>{{Cite web |url=http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/flamingo/physical-characteristics.htm |title=FLAMINGOS - Physical Characteristics |access-date=2012-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710133948/http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/flamingo/physical-characteristics.htm |archive-date=2012-07-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-flamingo.html|title = Home &#124; San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants}}</ref> The total length (from [[beak]] to tail) and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from {{convert|90|to|105|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Seaworld/><ref>{{cite book|author=Ali, S.|year=1993|title=The Book of Indian Birds|publisher=Bombay Natural History Society|location=Bombay|isbn=0-19-563731-3}}</ref> Most of the plumage is pinkish white. The clearest difference between this species and the [[greater flamingo]], the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful to distinguish the two species, unless they occur together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.

The extinct species ''[[Phoeniconaias proeses]]'' in the same genus, from the [[Pliocene]] of Australia, is thought to have been even smaller.<ref name=M63>{{Cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=A.H.|year=1963|title=The fossil flamingos of Australia.|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v065n04/p0289-p0299.pdf|journal=The Condor|volume=65|issue=4|pages=289–299|doi=10.2307/1365355|jstor=1365355 }}</ref> 

The lesser flamingo may be the most common species of flamingo, with a population that (at its peak) probably numbered up to two million individual birds. This species feeds primarily on ''[[Spirulina (genus)|Spirulina]]'', [[algae]] which grow only in very [[Soda lake|alkaline lakes]]. Presence of flamingo groups near water bodies is an indication of [[Alkali soils|sodic alkaline]] water which is not suitable for irrigation use.  Although blue-green in colour, the algae contain the [[photosynthetic pigment]]s that give the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specially adapted for filtering tiny food items. Other forms of algae taken are ''[[Synechocystis]] minuscula'', ''[[Synechococcus]] pevalekii'', ''[[Synechococcus elongatus]]'', ''[[Monoraphidium]] minutum'', ''[[Oscillatoria]]'' sp. and ''[[Lyngbya]]'' sp.<ref name=ADW>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Phoeniconaias_minor/ | title=Phoeniconaias minor (Lesser flamingo) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref><ref name=BOW>{{cite journal | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/lesfla1/cur/introduction | title=Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), version 1.0 | journal=Birds of the World | date=2020 | last1=Del Hoyo | first1=Josep | last2=Boesman | first2=Peter F. D. | last3=Garcia | first3=Ernest | last4=Kirwan | first4=Guy M. }}</ref> This species will also feed, to a lesser extent, on small invertebrates: copepods (''[[Paradiaptomus africanus]]''), diatoms (''[[Navicula]]'') and rotifers (''[[Brachionus]]''), as well as microscopic [[Alkaliphile|alkaliphilic]] [[cyanobacteria]] (''[[Arthrospira]] fusiformis'', ''A. maxima'').<ref name=ADW/><ref name=BOW/>