Without a doubt, flamingos are one of the most beautiful and striking aquatic birds that have ever existed. They stand out for their peculiar size, balance and the characteristic pink color that covers their entire body except for the beak. So an interesting question would be why are flamingos pink? We will explain it to you below.
Characteristics of pink flamingos
Pink flamingos are very interesting animals and when we have the opportunity to see them in person, that interest in their appearance grows more and more. Regarding their origins, they are neognathous birds, belonging to the phoenicopteridae family, and are distributed throughout the western and eastern hemisphere.
They are birds that have a well-defined body with long legs and a very stretched neck, their beak is curved in a low direction which is very well adapted to remove or dig into the mud. It has internal sheets to retain the substances extracted from the food by filtering the slime.
They have four fingers, of which the first three are joined by a membrane while the next one is small. When they fly they do so with their neck and legs fully extended, something surprising since at first glance they seem flightless birds.
This bird of great size and striking appearance travels long distances for many hours, during the migration season it will reach places and soils with high humidity. This to make their mud nests in the shape of a conical trunk to be able to incubate and protect their only white egg. Although in some cases they usually lay two, this for thirty days until the birth of their offspring is completed.
The food they give their young is based on milk, which is very similar to that of pigeons. It is secreted by glands located in the upper part of the digestive tract, but unlike pigeon milk, it is higher in fat and has less protein. Its feeding by this means occurs around two or three months, until it reaches maturity and develops its beak to filter its food.
Why are flamingos pink?
At birth or hatching, their plumage is white, as their development occurs and through the food they consume, they acquire another tone such as luminous pink, almost reaching red. The process of this change in the color of their plumage is due to the carotenoids they obtain from their food.
The reason why flamingos are pink is specifically because of their feeding and growth. Their diet is generally based on foods that contain high content of carotenoids such as shrimp, plankton, algae and crustaceans.
Of course, without even thinking that because these birds eat some pink or similar food, they will be pink. What happens is that most of the foods that make up the diet of flamingos have a chemical compound known as canthaxanthin.
By consuming these foods, especially artemia salina, which is a small crustacean, flamingos acquire their pigments. Which are metabolized through the digestion process to make contact with the fat molecules attached to the skin and from there to the feathers, producing the change of the same.
For their part, male flamingos have a very particular characteristic unlike females, and that is that during the mating season they extract a very pronounced pink oil from the uropygial gland located in their tail, which spreads through their plumage to look more enhanced and attractive to females.
What do flamingos eat?
These beautiful pink waders are Omnivorous animals and they generally live in lakes and swamps, since their diet is specifically based on a diet based on blue-green algae, red algae, insect larvae and small crustaceans such as brine shrimp, plankton, shrimp and molluscs.
Much of the amount of food that flamingos consume, they do so by filtering mud and water to obtain insects and crustaceans through it. Especially with shrimp from which they extract their organic pigments called carotenoids, it allows them to gradually acquire the pink color of their plumage.
In general, all the feeding of the pink flamingo It is based on foods that contain a high percentage of carotenoids, which when consumed by the digestive system of these birds extracts the organic pigment. This is found dissolved in the fat to later be deposited in new feathers as it develops and grows, the plumage takes on that characteristic pink color.
Why can pink flamingos stand on one leg?
The scientific or natural reason does not exist yet an explanation about this capacity or ability that these slender but heavy birds possess. It is said that one of the reasons or explanation may be that by raising one of its legs it keeps it warm, especially in cold climates.
Another reason and it could be the most successful is that they do it by shaking or wiping the water off their legs. Also, it would be to deceive or camouflage itself before its prey and pretend to be a plant at a distance from them by standing on one leg.
Likewise, whatever the reason this animal (flamingo) use this posture, it is very impressive and surprising that being so heavy they can remain for long periods on one leg without losing their balance.
Fun facts about flamingos
- Its height ranges from 1,45 meters.
- It has an estimated lifespan of 55 years.
- When it reaches adulthood it can weigh up to almost 5 kilos.
- The pigmentation of its plumage is due to the consumption of foods with carotene.
- They begin to reproduce from the age of four.
- Pink flamingos possess a scenic beauty.
- They are born white and change color as they develop and feed.
- They can stand on one leg.
- Flemish parents care for their young for six years until they can fend for themselves.
- The flamingos have several interesting displays, one of which is marching, they do it in a group and in the same direction, alternating together.
- They emit a honking sound very similar to that of geese.
- Also, there are blue flamingos, but in a minimal quantity, which, like the pink ones, their color is due to the food they consume, such as blue algae.
