The Lesser Flamingo is the most numerous flamingo, with a total population of 2-4, possibly 6 million birds. the bulk of the population concentrates in the Rift Valley in Eastern Africa, where the species in saline and alkaline lake habitats. The species is highly specialized and dependent on microscopic blue-green algae and diatoms, to a lesser extent on small invertebrates. It mixes with the lesser specialized Greater Flamingo, as here on the Elementaita Lake.