Distinguished from other flamingos (Phoenicopterus) by its deep lower mandible and the large black triangle or wedge in the back end of the body, the Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus) lives in the Andes mountains of South America. One of the rarest flamingos in the world, it is closely related to James's flamingo, and the two make up the genus Phoenicoparrus. It lives only above the 2,300 metre mark and below 5,000 metres, requiring alkaline lakes or salt lakes with shallow, diatom-rich water for its survival.
