The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo. It was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that treatment is now widely viewed (e.g. by the American and British Ornithologists' Unions) as incorrect due to a lack of evidence. It is also known as the Caribbean flamingo, although it is also present in the Galápagos Islands. It is the only flamingo that naturally inhabits North America.
The American flamingo breeds in the Galápagos Islands, coastal Colombia, Venezuela and nearby islands, northern Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, along the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and in extreme southern Florida.The population in the Galápagos Islands differs genetically from that in the Caribbean, and the Galápagos flamingos are significantly smaller, exhibit sexual dimorphism in body shape, and lay smaller eggs.They are sometimes separated as Phoenicopterus ruber glyphorhynchus.Its preferred habitats are similar to those of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow, brackish coastal or inland lakes. An example habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán.