Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 147, March 2017, pp. 1-16. | Page 2

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A Melanistic Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811) at a salt pond in Umm AlRashrash (Eilat), southern Palestine. March & April 2013.
http://www.birdersplayground.co.uk/Israel%202013%20Ibis,%20Flamingo,%20Pelicans,%20Spo
onbills.html

Melanism is a genetic irregularity which causes animals to develop more
melanin than usual, turning them a dark shade of brown or black (Messenger,
March 2014).
There have been other sightings of an all-black flamingo before along their
migration route from Europe to Africa, but given the rarity of this condition, it is
suspected that they have all been of the same bird (Messenger, March 2014).
This isn't the first time that a bird has made headlines for its unconventional
plumage. In 2010, an all-black penguin was photographed on the island of South
Georgia, near Antarctica. At the time, biologists described the discovery "one in a
zillion kind of mutation" (Messenger, March 2014).
Fortunately, the black flamingo looks healthy despite being a bit different than
the rest of the flock. And if the birds embarrassed about it, well, it's certainly not
showing (Messenger, March 2014).

Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 147 – March 2017