Photo by PeterWollinga/Shutterstock.com

Flamingos are our favorite fowl, and we want them to flourish and thrive in the wild. Climate change has been affecting the environment for decades, and its impacts are being felt more and more severely. Are these beautiful birds endangered?

Are Flamingos Endangered?

Fortunately, no species of flamingo is considered endangered at this time.

However, that doesn’t mean all is well. One species of flamingos, the Andean flamingo, is classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List has three more flamingo species - the lesser flamingo, James’s flamingo, and Chilean flamingo - listed as “near threatened,” too. Greater flamingos and American flamingos are considered to be “least concern.” 

Named the most stunning aerial view in Africa. Lake Bogoria is a shallow alkaline lake in the north Kenyan Rift. It is home at times to the world's largest population of lesser flamingos and is famous for spectacular geysers and hot springs along its banks. Photos by @FCMorgan pic.twitter.com/n1VADx75Mr

— Kenya Pics (@kenyapics) July 4, 2020

Species that are “vulnerable” are viewed as “threatened.” You can learn more about how the IUCN Red List works here.

Additionally, the population trend for Andean, lesser, James’s, and Chilean flamingos is decreasing, while the population trend for greater and American flamingos is increasing.

While numbers for some species are trending in a negative direction, there was once a time when a species of flamingo was much closer to disappearing. In 1924, it was thought that the James’s flamingo was extinct, but decades later in 1957, a small collection of the bird was found surviving in the remote wild. James’s flamingos still live in the wild today in South America, largely in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.

Small Group of James's Flamingos in Bolivia - Photo by PeterWollinga/Shutterstock.com 

Flamingo Species Populations

There are two different counts of flamingo populations: wild and captive.

In 2020, these were the numbers for flamingos in the wild:

These were the populations of each species held in captivity, as of November 2019: