Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811.

Length 125-145 cm. It is not difficult to identify the flamingo due to its large size, distinctive red and white plumage, very long legs and neck, and the downward curved red and black bill. The juvenile plumage is essentially grey-brown, turning to dirty white and only gaining the striking red wing coverts, as it gets older, to produce a stunning contrast with the black flight feathers. The Greater Flamingo lives in saline lagoons and lakes, where it favors shallow muddy areas in which it can feed on the minute organisms suspended in the water, such as plankton, blue-green algae, and a few crustaceans, and mollusks, which it sieves through its specialized beak. This bird feeds during both day and night and is social in habit, living in large colonies. The nest is constructed of mud and is 25 cm high and 35-40 cm wide. Breeding takes place during March and July; a single egg is laid and is incubated for one month by both parents. Occasional breeders in Lake Bardawil and Lake Mallaha in northwest Sinai. A common winter visitor that apparently migrates by night.