A detailed time series assessment of the diet of Lesser Flamingos: further explanation for their itinerant behaviour

Abstract

We hypothesised that changes in nutritional composition and quality of the pelagic phytoplankton community influence the occurrence of Lesser Flamingo populations in two Kenyan saline–alkaline lakes, Nakuru and Bogoria. This was achieved by carrying out a detailed time series assessment of the phytoplankton community composition and nutritional components (carbohydrates, crude protein and lipids) from July 2008 to October 2009 on a weekly basis for each lake. Lesser Flamingos were estimated visually from the lake shore of the sampling sites. In Lake Nakuru, Lesser Flamingos had a significant positive relationship with lipids and Arthrospira biomass but a negative relationship with small cyanoprokaryotes. For Lake Bogoria, no significant differences were observed as the Arthrospira was available throughout the sampling period though the flamingo numbers still fluctuated. We concluded that the nutritional composition and quality of the phytoplankton community influence the temporal and spatial abundance of Lesser Flamingos although other factors such as the prevailing environmental conditions may take precedence.