Flamingos are pink because of what they eat

Remember flamingos? Yes, we are talking about those pink pretty birds standing tall on their stick-like legs you may have chanced upon on your visit to a bird sanctuary or you may have included in your list of most famous birds. Do you know why they are pink? If you thought that it’s their natural colour, you would be wrong. Actually, flamingos get their pink colour from the food that they eat. 

The secret behind the pink hue 
Pretty much the same way beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment gives carrots their orange colour or turns ripe tomatoes red, a flamingo’s pink comes from what it eats! Flamingos primarily feed on algae, brine fly larvae, and brine shrimp, all of which have high amounts of beta-carotene. Flamingos’ body metabolises the pigments — turning their feathers pink.  

Filter feeders  
Okay, what does that even mean? Flamingos eat their food by filtering organic matter or minute organisms from water. But how does a flamingo filter-feed itself?   

For that let us understand their diet first. Flamingos eat algae, small seeds, tiny crustaceans such as brine shrimp, fly larvae, and other plants and animals that live in shallow waters. 

When a flamingo is hungry, it places its head upside down in the water with its bill (beak) pointed at its feet. It then sweeps its head side-to-side, using its tongue to pump water in and out of its bill. Flamingos have comb-like plates along the edge of their bill that creates a filter for water to rush out while trapping food inside. 

Species and distribution 
Do you know how many kinds of flamingos are there? There are six species of flamingos – Caribbean, James’s (or Puna), Chilean, Andean flamingos, Greater and Lesser. You can find Caribbean flamingos in the Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, Southern Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. Chilean, Andean, and James’s flamingos are found only in South America. Greater flamingos, the largest and tallest flamingo species, are found in parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. On the contrary, Lesser flamingos, who are the smallest and the most abundant, are found in parts of Africa and southern Asia.  

Flamingo facts 

1. Flamingos are migratory birds and they can fly long distances. Some flamingos travel to breed, migrate to a new body of water as seasons change, or move to warmer, lower-altitude areas for the winter.  

2. Flamingo chicks hatch with white-gray, downy feathers and straight bills and it takes many years for them to turn pink and get hook-shaped bills. 

3. Flamingo’s “milk” is produced in its crop (part of its throat) and then brought up through its mouth. It may sound icky, but a flamingo’s crop milk is chock-full of healthy proteins and fats. 

4. Flamingos can sleep standing on one leg.  

5. A flamingo’s nest looks like a mini mud volcano.  

6. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.