Flamingos
are a famously a large and beautiful bird. They belong to the order Phoenicopteriformes, family Phoenicopteridae and genus Phenicoparrus. The genus Phenicoparrus is the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae. With all these “Phenicops…” what does that mean in latin? It means scarlet of course the Phoenix is a bird, so this is literally a scarlet bird. How appropriate. The seven species of flamingos are listed below.

Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus
Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor
Chilean Flamingo Phoenicopterus chilenais
American or Caribbean Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber
Andian Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus
James's Flamingo Phoenicoparrus mamesi



Different books or sources list the American, Caribbean and greater Flamingo as all one species
Phenicoparrus rube or at two separate species ruber and roseus