Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 147, March 2017, pp. 1-16. | Page 3

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A Melanistic Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811) at a salt pond in Umm AlRashrash (Eilat), southern Palestine. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/345721708867184118/

In April 2015, an extremely rare black flamingo has been spotted on the
Mediterranean island of Cyprus, exciting nature lovers who said it may be the
only bird of its type ever seen (Daily News, April 2015).
The flamingo, seen on the banks of a salt lake on Wednesday morning 08.04.2015,
is thought to have a genetic condition known as melanism, which causes it to
generate more of the pigment melanin, turning it dark, rather than the usual pink
color (Daily News, April 2015).
“From what have seen on the Internet, there was only one other sighting ... in
Palestine, so maybe this is the second one,” said Pantelis Charilaou, head of the
environmental department of the British Sovereign Bases, territory under the
control of former colonial power where the bird was seen (Daily News, April
2015).
The flamingo, entirely black, save for a tuft of white feathers on its rear, was
feeding with others on the banks of the lake on Wednesday afternoon. Experts
said it may be the same one that was spotted in Palestine in 2014 (Daily News,
April 2015).

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