Bolivia. Flamingos

Flamingos were the highlight of our tour through the natural areas of Bolivia. During the second day of the tour, we stopped by several lakes to observe these fantastically beautiful birds, and we ended the day at the red Laguna Colorada...

The lagoons are inhabited by numerous flamingos, three species of which breed here. The Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) reaches a height of just over one meter and has a white bill with a black tip, dirty-blue legs, red knees, and salmon-colored plumage. The Andean flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus) is the largest of the three, with pink plumage, light yellow legs, and a yellow-black bill. James's flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi) is the smallest of the three species and has red legs with a yellow-black bill.

Cañapa Lagoon ...

Here, we were able to distinguish two species - the Yellow-billed Flamingo or James's Flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi) and the Andean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus)...

The Yellow-billed Flamingo, or James's Flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi)...

The Andean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus)...

Then we traveled to Hedionda Lagoon (Laguna Hedionda)...

Here, the flamingos were slightly different...

By evening, we arrived at the Eduardo Abaroa National Reserve, where the famous Laguna Colorada (Laguna Colorado) is located, the main highlight of the second day of our jeep tour...

Laguna Colorada is situated at an altitude of 4,278 meters and covers an area of 60 km². Its intense red color comes from algae and plankton that thrive in the minerals, and the shoreline is surrounded by brilliant white deposits of sodium, magnesium, borax, and gypsum...

Here we encountered a whole group of rare yellow-billed flamingos. They are distinguished by their red legs and brightly yellow bills with black tips...

The James's flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi) is the smallest of the three species and is very rare. Phylogenetically related to the Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus), it is smaller (around 90 cm). It was considered completely extinct until its nesting was discovered at Laguna Colorada in 1956...