Lesser Flamingo - Guinea

Phoenicopterus minor - The lesser flamingo is the smallest of the six extant flamingo species, but it is the most abundant in numbers. Though the smallest, it is an impressive bird, standing at 90 centimeters for males and 80 centimeters for females. Flamingos lay one egg per breeding cycle; the egg hatches in approximately 28 days. Despite their large numbers, the lesser flamingo is declining in population as a result of their low reproductive rate and lack of suitable breeding sites.

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Guinea is one of three African countries named after the Gulf of Guinea; the other two are Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. The French colony of Rivières du Sud was established in 1882, after a coastal section of French controlled Senegal was separated into its own colony. It became Guinée française in 1894, as part of the collective French West Africa. In 1958, a new French government implemented a change in its colonial policies, resulting in Guinea becoming an independent country.

American Flamingo - Bahamas

Phoenicopterus ruber - There are six living species of flamingos; two are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and four are native to the Americas. The one feature common to flamingos, is their specially adapted bill. It is lined with fine straining plates called lamellae. Flamingos feed in shallow waters by dipping their bill into the water and sweeping it from side to side as they are pulling in various small invertebrates. The flamingo’s large fleshy tongue is then used as a press to expel the water.

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When Cristóbal Colón arrived in the Americas, his first landfall was in the Bahamas. Though the islands were claimed for Spain, the Spanish expressed no interest in colonizing the islands. The British were not as reluctant and took charge in 1717. King George I appointed Woodes Rogers, an English sea captain, as governor of the Bahamas with the hopes he would clear the area of pirates. Rogers, having been a pirate, was successful. The Bahamas were retained as a British colony until 1973.