Diurnal behaviour of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus during a tidal cycle on the Bandar Abbas Coast, Persian Gulf

This study was conducted on 16 February 2010 using 10×40 binoculars and scan sampling of 136 individuals of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus. The behaviour of the birds was monitored every 15 minutes from sunrise to sunset in 10 different categories: feeding, drinking, walking, flying, resting, preening, scratching, aggression, showing alarm and loafing. The most important activity was feeding (over 50% of the time in both adult and juvenile individuals). Walking and resting were the two other main activities of the Greater Flamingos during the present study. Overall, the difference in behaviour between adults and juveniles was not statistically significant (P>0.05),but the juveniles spent more time feeding and less time walking and preening than adults, and the differences in time spent feeding and time spent preening were statistically significant (P<0.05).