A visual treat: Flamingos paint Mumbai 'pink'

Mumbai, Apr 26: It was a visual treat as thousands of flamingos were spotted in Navi Mumbai. The whole area was a sea of delicate pink. Every year thousands of greater and lesser flamingos flock to Mumbai.

While the lesser flamingos arrived from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, which is the creatures' main breeding ground in India. The greater flamingos are believed to fly in from as far as Iran.

Flamingos form longlasting friendships and some behave like married couples, research suggests. A study led by the University of Exeter has shown that the birds tend to spend time with close friends, despite being part of large flocks.

The team also found that some of the birds also avoid certain flamingos.

"It seems that - like humans - flamingos form social bonds for a variety of reasons, and the fact they're so long-lasting suggests they are important for survival in the wild."

Social bonds also included "married" couples, same-sex associations and even groups of three and four close friends.

The name "flamingo" comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo ("flame-colored"), which in turn comes from Provençal flamenc - a combination of flama ("flame") and a Germanic-like suffix -ing. The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym flamenco ("Fleming" or "Flemish").