A fabulous and flamboyant collection of vintage flamingo art prints.
Every year I visit my parents in Southern Portugal, and my father takes his grandsons on a bird safari. My father is a well-known ornithologist and bird book author. He knows all the best places locally to spot the flocks of wild flamingos.
Not surprisingly, flamingos aren’t hard to spot. Their lovely pink colour is a bit of a giveaway; also, they tend to gather in large flocks. The flamingos in Portugal are usually found in the saltpans (Salinas) and lagoons of the Ria Formosa Natural Park in the Algarve.
The name Flamingo comes from the Spanish and Portuguese word “flemengo”, which translates as flame-coloured. Flamingos are not born with pink feathers. They acquire their famous pink colouring from the food they eat—mainly their diet of shrimp and blue-green algae.
As well as Southern Europe, Flamingos are also found in the Americas, Africa and Asia.
Flamingos are not just renowned for their fabulous pink colouring. They are also famous for standing on one leg. The other leg is usually tucked under their bodies. Why they do this, ornithologists don’t know why.
Flamingos featured under F in the Pictural Alphabet of Birds.
Vintage Flamingo Paintings To Print
The flamingos’ gorgeous colouring and prominent majestic appearance may explain why they have been such a popular trend in interiors over the last few years. I hope you enjoy these stunning flamingo art prints; feel free to download them for your interiors or crafts.

The downloaded flamingo art prints will be of a higher resolution than the images on the screen. Just click on the title above the image to download it to your device.
The Fabulous Flamingo Art Prints
1. Audubon’s American Flamingo Painting
This has to be one of the most popular flamingo art prints and has been featured on many interior walls. I even have had some paper napkins with this flamingo painting printed on them.
The painting is by John James Audubon and features in his book of gorgeous bird illustrations, “The Birds of America”. This seminal natural history book was printed between 1827 and 1838 and contained 435 life-size watercolours of North American birds.
The American Flamingo is the only species of flamingo found in North America. As well as Southern Florida, the bird is located in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and as far south as the Galapagos Islands.
You will find some Audubon owl drawings and pelican print here.

2. Lesser Flamingo Painting
The lesser flamingo lives up to its name, as it’s the smallest of all the flamingo species. However, this flamingo is still tall relative to other bird species. The Lesser Flamingo is probably one of the most common species of flamingo and can be found in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
This painting is from the French Ornothological book “Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d’oiseaux” (New collection of colored boards of birds) published in 1838.

3. James’s Flamingo Art Print
A vintage flamingo art print from the collection of the Zoological Society London, it was painted in 1886 by John Gerrard Keulemans.
James’s flamingos are very much South American flamingos. The bird’s habitat is the Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. It is named after the British naturalist Harry Berkley James. This is an endangered species of flamingo and was thought to have been extinct until a remote population was discovered in 1956.

4. Chilean Flamingo Art Prints 1849
The Chilean flamingo is similar in size and closely related to the American and Greater flamingos. It is found mainly in South America.
This flamingo art print is from “The genera of birds: comprising their generic characters, a notice of the habits of each genus, and an extensive list of species referred to their several genera, v. 3″, published in 1849 by George Robert Gray.

5. Greater Flamingo In Flight
The Greater Flamingo is the largest of all the flamingo species hence its name. This is the most common species of flamingos and the ones that I spot on the salt-pans of the Portuguese Algarve.
A lovely vintage painting of the Greater Flamingo in flight, from “Ornithologia neerlandica. De vogels van Nederland” printed in 1922.
There is a wonderful image of a greater flamingo on the tropical bird cigarette card illustrations on Pictureboxblue.

6. Greater Flamingo Feeding Painting
Another fabulous flamingo painting this one of greater flamingos feeding. ”
Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms, and mollusks .”
This print is from “Coloured figures of the birds of the British Islands, v. 7” by J.G. Keulemans.

7. American Flamingo – 1792
This fabulous vintage flamingo painting is from 1792.

8. Pair of American Flamingos
A pair of American flamingos from “The Birds of North America” (1903) by Chapman and Bell. The male and female flamingo mating pair build a nest together, and both sit on the egg while it incubates for about a month.

9. American Flaming 1821
A brightly coloured American Flamingo from “The General History of Birds” (1821), by John Latham.

10. Pair of American Flamingos 1948
A beautiful piece of flamingo artwork. They show a pair of flamingos feeding at night with a full moon. The birds almost look like they are on another planet.
The flamingo art print is from the book “Adventures with animals and plants” (1948) by Elsbeth Kroeber.

11. Flock of Greater Flamingos
There are several collective nouns for a flock of flamingos. They are called names such as a stand, colony, regiment, or flamboyance. Flamboyance is my favourite term. I think it describes a flock of flamingos so aptly. Both flamingo and flamboyance come from words referring to fire. Flamingo comes from the Spanish and Portuguese flamengo, meaning “flame-colored.” Flamboyance comes from French, meaning “to flame” or “flair.”
This flamingo painting is from “The Avicultural magazine” 1913.

There is another vintage flamingo print in the Mark Catesby American Flora & Fauna print collection.
For more wonderful bird illustrations check out the dodo drawings on Pictureboxblue.
If you liked these fabulous flamboyant flamingo art prints, then you should check out these other collections of bird paintings.
Natalie
Wednesday 11th of November 2020
You are amazing, At least it's not a pinterest post. Grrr, I really hate pinterest. Especially when searching for images and the first 200 are pinterest posts.
My daughter has been obsessed with Flamingoes since the movie about Spencer came out. SO the American flamingo pictures (one of the ones above is from the book they tried to steal "Birds of America") are the ones that she really wanted. I'm so happy that you found that red flamingo.
Your boys are very blessed to be able to go on a bird safari. Your dad is very well known indeed. It must have been interesting in your household as a kid!
I printed these at my local officeworks and then bought frames for the prints. They print beautifully. The lady who served me at officeworks asked about my prints and I told her that I planned to frame them for my daughter's room. I framed three in A3 white frames. Everyone who has seen them has asked about the posters ("where'd you get those gorgeous prints") and most don't believe me that each picture including the frame cost me $5.80 (A3 frames from Daiso).
Claire you are a wonderful human for collating these collections of public domains. I've used "your pictures" a couple of times now. Currently using the circus ones for a vintage carnivale party on Saturday. you make life just that little bit easier.
claire
Saturday 14th of November 2020
Aww, that is lovely to hear Natalie. I'm really pleased that you have enjoyed the prints and made good use of them. A lot of people don't really all these beautiful pictures are in the Public Domain so free for everyone to use and enjoy. I just love looking at pretty pictures and want to share them. If there are any particular prints you are looking for drop me an email at claire@pictureboxblue.com and I will see what I can do. I'm always open to suggestions for picture ideas. Thank you.
Louis
Friday 18th of September 2020
Hello! I am in love with the American Flamingo 1792! Is there any indication how large a physical print of the download file would be? I have a printed size at least 1m long in mind. Thanks!
claire
Monday 21st of September 2020
Thank you Louis. Your best bet is to try an online print shop and see if they think it can be printed that large.
Cecilia
Sunday 19th of May 2019
What a fun collection, Claire! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
claire
Tuesday 21st of May 2019
Thank you, Cecilia
Kathy A
Wednesday 15th of May 2019
Loved your prints. Thanx for your research; I loved the word flamboyance! I am a flamingo collector and try to limit my collection to the bathroom which is a lovely Caribbean blue. Besides, I don't want them flamingling with my SO's penguins!
claire
Wednesday 15th of May 2019
Thank you! I bet your collection looks fun. Ooh Penguins, that's a good idea for another bird collection.
Kippi
Friday 10th of May 2019
I live in Florida and I love these amazing birds so I will be using some of these prints. Pinned Happy Mother's Day, Kippi #kippiathome
claire
Friday 10th of May 2019
Thank you. Lucky you that you get to see these amazing birds too in the wild.