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Flamingos
Flamingos are tall, pink birds that often stand on one leg. Ask questions here about their habitat, behavior and conservation.
663 Questions
How tall is the tallest flamingo?
There are 6 species of flamingo and depending on the kind of flamingo and the size of the flamingo the size of their offspring varies. Also Flamingo's are almost like people and are very unique and though we can't see it they all are very different, so one flamingo baby could be a different size to another that was born at the same time as the previous.
Do flamingos turn gray when they get old?
well no it is only gray when it is a hote/baby and when it does not eat the pink shrimp that make it pink
Do flamingos live in California?
The short answer is NO, it is not legal to own a flamingo as a domestic pet in California. You apply to obtain a permit to house the animals, but this is extremly difficult to get approved. Some wildlife and rescue groups will allow you to volunteer at their centers and train to then eventually house these birds during recovery, or designate your residence as a wildife recovery/rescue location, but this is rare and not typical. Flamingo's do not make very good domestic pets, and require a great deal of care and attention from caretakers and are not recommended to most people. Below is the regulation that governs most exotic wildlife in California and includes flamingos under this regulation:
• CAL. CODE REGS. Tit. 14 §671 -- Importation, Transportation and Possession of Live Restricted Animals
(a) It shall be unlawful to import, transport, or possess alive animals restricted in subsection (c) below except under permit issued by the Department of Fish and Game. Permits may be issued by the department as specified herein and for purposes designated in Section 671.1 subject to the conditions and restrictions designated by the department. Except for mammals listed in Fish and Game Code Section 3950 Fish & Game or live aquatic animals requiring a permit pursuant to Fish and Game Code Section 2271 Fish & Game, no permit is required by this section for any animal being imported, transported, or possessed pursuant to any other permit issued by the department. Cities and counties may also prohibit possession or require a permit for these and other species not requiring a state permit.
If you are still interested in flamingo's I suggest locating a local rescue and rehabilitation group and volunteering first. Then you will have a better idea of what is involved in taking care of flamingos.
Why are flamingos pink in the wild?
Pink Flamingos
Flamingos are pink because of the food they eat, which is shrimp and algae.
Additional Input
- It's not the the color of the food that makes the flamingo pink, but the chemicals inside.
- Flamingos are pink if they have a lot of food containing beta carotene in their diet (i.e shrimp).
- The coloring is actually a derivative of a class of plant-produced compounds called carotenoids-that is, carotene and its chemical cousins. Flamingoes in the wild eat shrimp, which is pink. The flamingo body may not process other colorful chemicals the way it processes carotene. Often times when flamingos are fed at a zoo, their diets are much different than their diet would be in the wild. Flamingoes in the wild eat shrimp, which is pink. Therefore flamingos in a zoo habitatand that aren't fed shrimp lose their pink color, so zookeepers must add food coloring to the food!
- The depth and shade of their pink depends on how much suitable carotenoid they eat. In order to have flamingoes that remain pink in captivity, various colouring agents are fed to them; normally the same agents that are fed to farmed salmon so they have pink meat.
- This answer is completely wrong! I'm pretty sure shrimps do not contain beta carotene. Beta carotene is an orange (not pink) pigment found in carrots and is a precursor to vitamin A. Whereas Astaxanthine is a pink pigment produced by plants and algae. It is Astaxanthine that give Flamingos their pink color. When shrimps eat algae the astaxanthine contained in them is incorporated into their chitin shell. When the Flamingos eat the shrimps the flamingos then incorporate the pigment into their feathers. Incidentally this is also why the meat or muscle of an adult wild salmon is pink. Farmed salmon raised on meal lacking the pigment have white appearing muscle. This is also why when you cook shrimp or lobster or crab they turn bright pink to red in color. Shrimps and lobsters don't look pink at first due to proteins in the shell obscuring the pigment. When the protein is denatured (cooked) it reveals the wonderful color. This is also true of the leaves of fall. When the green chlorophylls in the leaves are destroyed the reds and oranges and yellows of fall are revealed in their splendor! What about pink you say? I'll explain this next.
- Both astaxanthine and beta carotene are Carotenoids, a group of pigment molecules produced by plants and algae that range in color from yellow to red (the leaves of fall). They help absorb light and pass the energy to chlorophyll. They can be divided into two groups, xanthophylls and carotenes. The former containing oxygen and the later lacking. The coloration of these molecules is due to the length of their carbon chain with alternating single and double bonds, called conjugation. This chain absorbs light of various colors (energies). The more highly conjugated or the longer the chain the more red the pigment looks. The shorter the chain the more yellow the pigment. Changing the length changes the light absorption spectrum and therefore the color. Vitamin A (retinol) alpha and beta carotene, lycopene, and lutien are all vitamins and antioxidants as well as Carotenoids.
- Although the explanation of the caratinoids above is right on the money, its important to note FLAMINGOS ARE NOT PINK BECAUSE THEY EAT SHRIMP! Flamingos are pink because the things they eat have those pigments in them. True, flamingos do eat whats called a grass shrimp, but most of their diet is made up of diatoms and algae. In fact, most species of flamingo can't eat anything bigger than microscopic organisms. So to say that a flamingo is pink just because of shrimp is like saying humans grow healthy and strong because we drink milk. Yes, milk does help us do that, but it is a very small part of a diverse diet that we consume everyday. Also, the feathers are only temporarily that color, not stained pink. If a feather comes off, than it will return to its original white color while laying on the ground over time.
- flamingo chicks hatch a smokey grey color, which eventually lightens and turns pink when they lose their down.Flamingoes are pink because they eat shrimp rich in a pink protein which builds up in the birds feathers. Much like when you eat lots of carrots and you turn orange, or when you put a white flower in red water and the flower turns red.
The phytoplankton that their food eats gives color to their feathers.
According to a sign at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, they don't have much of a sense of smell at all - which is good news for them, because they prefer to live in big crowds and hang around in stagnant water, which makes them smell pretty bad to us humans. Very, very few birds have any significant sense of smell - turkey vultures and a few related species are exceptions.
the daddy weighs 7lbs. and the mommy weighs 6lbs(usually)
The average weight of an adult flamingo is about 4 kilograms (8 3/4 pounds) according to the National Geographic.
What kind of turtles have webbed feet?
There are several animals that have webbed feet. They are ducks, otters, swans, seagulls, geese, platypuses, frogs, toads, and grouse.
Flamingos are endangered because ...
1. domestication - ( some zoos have captured wild flamingos )
2. disturbance to their colonies - ( from observing tourists and photographers )
3. human disturbance - ( people steal their eggs and eat these birds, pollution )
a flamingo can fly for 373 miles straight at 31 miles per hour in one night.
According to the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo, fossils of flamingos most similar to modern day forms have been identified to 30 million years ago. Fossils of more primitive species have been identified to be an estimated 50 million years old. See the link below for more information.
Do flamingo's have belly buttons?
In the egg there is a cord that attaches the developing embryo to the yolk sac. When the bird hatches, there is a residual scar where the cord used to be. While the bird is a nestling, you can still see what would be the avian equivalent of a belly button. However, as the bird develops, that area becomes more compact and in an adult bird there is virtually nothing to be seen of what once was the scar. So technically baby birds have belly buttons, but unlike the belly buttons of humans, these go away as they grow up.
Do Greater Flamingos Migrate to India?
It depends on the species of flamingo. There are six species of flamingo; the areas they are native to are listed below.
Greater flamingo-South Europe, South and Southwest Asia, and parts of Africa
Lesser flamingo-Northwest India and the Great Rift Valley in Africa
Chilean flamingo-Temperate South America
James' flamingo-High Andes mountains in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru
Andean flamingo-High Andes mountains in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru
American flamingo-the Galapagos Islands and the Caribbean Islands
Where do flamingos get their water from?
Caribbean flamingos eats seeds, crustaceans, and green-blue algae.
It drinks fresh water.
Why do flamingos have skinny legs?
Flamingos legs bend the opposite way because Flamingo legs are double joined. Just like we cannot bend our legs backwards, Flamingos cannot bend their legs forward.
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Do flamingos pee on their legs to stay cool?
Flamingo's stand on one leg to regulate their body temperature.
What colors is a flamingos beak?
A flamingo's usual or main color is pink but you may see some yellow ones
What color are flamingos at birth?
flamingos are white at birth but when they eat red shrimps or fish then they turn pink + = if you want more research and information go look up some more if you do not believe me.
they sleep in a bed with poopy blankets but their mattresses are perfect lol xD
