The term flamingo was initially documented in a 1589 report of English discoveries, spelled as flemengo. This closely resembles the Spanish source word, flamengo, which translates to “flame-colored”. The changes in spelling can be attributed to influences from Germanic languages and confusion with the term Fleming (which, in Spanish as flamenco, could also be interpreted as “flamingo”). The origin of flamengo can be traced back to the noun flama, meaning “flame”, derived from Latin flamma and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bhel, meaning “to shine”. The connection between flamingoes and fire is not limited to Spanish: the Greek genus name phoenicopterus translates to “blood red-feathered”, and in Serbo-Croatian, the bird is known as a plamenac, from plamen, meaning “flame”.
