Lesser Flamingo breeds in France

Lesser Flamingo has successfully hatched a chick in France this summer for the second time on record.

A juvenile was recently photographed being fed by an adult at a location in the south of the country. Only one previous occurrence of successful breeding has occurred in France, in the Camargue in 2001, although nesting attempts have been noted on several occasions.

Lesser Flamingo has bred in France for the second time (Martyn Sidwell).

Although more typically found in sub-Saharan Africa, Lesser Flamingo has been gradually increasing in Europe in recent decades, with small numbers present in Spain throughout the year and breeding having regularly occurred there since the turn of the century. The species is now included on Category A of the Spanish bird list, with France following suit and adding it to Category A of its own national list in 2016 due to an upturn in records there since the 2000s. Small numbers of Lesser Flamingos – usually between one and five individuals but with a maximum of nine in 2013 – occur in France in most years, with the majority of records stemming from the Camargue among its large Greater Flamingo flocks.

In the wider Western Palearctic, the species is considered regular only at Mauritania's Banc d'Arguin NP, where large flocks may sometimes gather. However, it does not breed there. There are also occasional sightings from Kuwait, Israel, Turkey and other nations.