The Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) is the smallest and most numerous flamingo species in the world (Childress et al. 2008). Like all flamingos, they are habitat specialists. Lesser Flamingos depend on shallow saline or alkaline wetlands in which they forage mainly on blue-green algae and benthic diatoms (Tuite 1979). There are four distinct regional populations of Lesser Flamingos in Africa and Asia. Childress et al. (2008) list 69 key sites (i.e. sites regularly holding > 1% of a regional population) but regular breeding has been confirmed at only six sites, plus one site where breeding has been suspected (Childress et al. 2008). Due to their declining population, Lesser Flamingos are categorised as being "near threatened" in the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (BirdLife International 2008).