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Range and Habitat: Sub-saharan Africa, Pakistan and Northwest
India. Found in large, shallow, brackish lakes.
Habits and Adaptations: They live in large flocks of up
to several hundred thousand birds. Male slightly larger than female,
with longer neck and legs.
Diet: Blue-green algae and diatoms. Occasional insect
larvae and copepods. Water is drawn into the deeply keeled bill
and then forced through the filtering laminae by pressure of the
tongue.
Breeding and Maturation: Nest in colonies. Breed mainly
in the spring and summer. Female lays one chalky- white egg in
mud cone nest. Incubated by both parents. Chick fed by both parents
until it fledges at about 75 days old.
Miscellaneous: World population estimated at approximately
6 million, with the vast majority found in the soda lakes of East
Africa's Rift Valley.
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