Crimson Wing flamingos star in new Disney film

Lake Natron is a salt lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border. It's the only breeding area for the endangered lesser flamingos that live in Africa's Great Rift valley Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos is made by Disney and follows the life and struggles of a million-strong colony of pink flamingos in Lake Natron Photograph: Leander Ward/Disney Enterprises

Three-quarters of the world's population of lesser flamingos live in breed in east Africa. Many depend on Lake Natron as a breeding site because food is plentiful, nesting sites abound and the lake is isolated and undisturbed Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

The film shows the life cycle of flamingos from the moment they hatch Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

Flamingos huddle in the lake at dawn Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

A flamingo chick takes some tentative steps Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

When flamingo chicks are about a week old, they are able to leave the nest. At around two weeks, the chicks are grouped into creches Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

Soda deposits swirl on the lake. Lake Natron is one of the largest soda lakes in the Rift valley. Its eight saline lagoons provide an ideal habitat for the salt-loving micro organisms on which the flamingos feed Photograph: Leander Ward/Disney Enterprises

At dawn, the flamingos hop over scalding water to get to a freshwater stream Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

This wing salute is the final part of the flamingos' courtship ritual Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

Building up speed before take off... Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

...and away Photograph: Photo Credit: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

During an algae bloom, bird numbers can be staggeringly high Photograph: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

Some chicks arrive on the shore from the mudflats. Life at Natron is tough for the flamingos, with many predators including jackals and hyenas threatening their daily survival Photograph: Photo Credit: Anup and Manoj Shah/Disney Enterprises

Northern Tanzania boasts several important geological features such as Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the African continent; Ngorongoro, one of the largest calderas on Earth and, pictured here, Ol Doinyo Lengai, the world’s only active carbonatite volcano Photograph: Leander Ward/Disney Enterprises