flamingo
/fləˈmɪŋɡəʊ
/
noun (plural flamingos or flamingoes)
A tall wading bird with mainly pink or scarlet plumage and long legs and neck. It has a heavy bent bill that is held upside down in the water in order to filter-feed on small organisms.
- Family Phoenicopteridae: three genera and four species, in particular the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).
- Wetlands are a lure for geese, swans, ducks, egrets, storks, herons and the icon of the Camargue, the pink flamingo.
- The islands are home to many bird species, including fish eagles, ospreys and flamingos.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Spanish flamengo, earlier form of flamenco (see flamenco); associated, because of its colour, with Latin flamma 'a flame'.
This tall wading bird may be connected with flamenco (late 19th century), the style of Spanish Gypsy music and dance. In Spanish flamenco means both ‘flamingo’ and ‘flamenco’, and also ‘like a Gypsy’, ‘strong and healthy-looking’, and ‘Flemish’. How ‘Flemish’ is related to the other meanings is not clear: it may be from the pink cheeks of north Europeans, or because of an apparent reputation that the people of Flanders had in the Middle Ages for flamboyant clothing. The name of the bird was probably influenced by Latin flamma ‘flame’, on account of its bright pink colour.