Flamingo

Flamingos or flamingoes are a species of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, the only bird family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species in the Americas and two species in the Old World.

Etymology

 
Flamingo comes from a flamenco in Portuguese or Spanish, "flame-colored", in turn coming from Provençal flamenc from flame flame and Germanic-like suffixing, with a possible influence of words like Fleming. A similar etymology has the Latinate Greek term Phoenicopterus (literally "blood red-feathered").

Taxonomy and systematics
Traditionally, the long-legged Ciconiiformes, probably a paraphyletic assemblage, have been considered the flamingos' closest relatives and the family was included in the order. Usually, the ibises and spoonbills of the Threskiornithidae were considered their closest relatives within this order. Earlier genetic studies, such as those of Charles Sibley and colleagues, also supported this relationship. Relatives to the waterfowl were considered as well, especially as flamingos are parasitized by feather lice of the genus Anaticola, which are otherwise exclusively found on ducks and geese. The particular presbyornithids were used to argue for a close relationship between flamingos, waterfowl, and waders. A 2002 paper concluded that they are waterfowl, but the 2014 comprehensive study of bird orders found that flamingos and grebes are not waterfowls, but they are part of Columbea along with doves, sandgrouse, and mesites.